Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An armed man pledged to be ready to fight on a minute's notice just before and during the Revolutionary War in the United States.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A man ready at a minute's notice; specifically, during the American revolutionary period, one of a class of enrolled militiamen who held themselves in readiness for instant service in arms whenever summoned.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A militiaman who was to be ready to march at a moment's notice; -- a term used in the American Revolution.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun during the American War for Independence, a soldier who would fight for the Patriots at a minute's notice

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an American militiaman prior to and during the American Revolution
  • noun a strategic weapon system using a guided missile of intercontinental range; missiles are equipped with nuclear warheads and dispersed in hardened silos

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Or to put the point more piquantly, one person's minuteman is another person's mujahideen.

    Balkinization 2004

  • The American hero is the cowboy: He is Maverick, he is Han Solo, he is Batman though, when Batman is in trouble, he turns on the Jack Bauer signal, he is the rag-tag minuteman fighting the well-trained Lobsterbacks.

    24 And The War On Terror 2006

  • Mitchell (Sonny) English is a "minuteman" for the Illinois Department of Transportation, who considers his 9 p. m.-to-5 a.m. tour "the best shift going."

    Living On Dracula Time 2008

  • If people don't stand up to these 'minuteman', or as we in San Diego like to call them, MInutemen ...

    The Austin Daily Herald 2009

  • The "minuteman" reference clearly has a militaristic ring, and it reflects Glenn Beck's casting of himself as a modern-day version of Thomas Paine.

    AltWeeklies.com Site Feed 2009

  • As timely as a minuteman showing up to Concord at the Old North Bridge.

    I have books! 2009

  • This spellbinding historical fantasy, first of a series, takes Proctor Brown, ready minuteman and reluctant witch, through the opening battles of the American Revolution.

    March 2nd, 2009 2009

  • RAND PAUL DELIVERS MAIDEN SENATE SPEECH, COMPARES TEA PARTY TO ABOLITIONISTS - Despite the well-established fact that John Brown spent his years dressing up like a minuteman, proudly not voting for his senator and bringing his own collapsible lawn furniture to political rallies, Senator Rand Paul felt the need to reiterate his movement's similarity's to America's anti-slavery activists today.

    HUFFPOST HILL - HCR Repeal Measure Fails In Senate Eliot Nelson 2011

  • One I remember very well is the C-5 that carried the first minuteman missile to be launched from the rear of the plane.

    Alexandra Holzer: Mike Coletta: A True UFO Geek (VIDEO) Alexandra Holzer 2011

  • One I remember very well is the C-5 that carried the first minuteman missile to be launched from the rear of the plane.

    Alexandra Holzer: Mike Coletta: A True UFO Geek (VIDEO) Alexandra Holzer 2011

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