military greeting
- noun
- /ˈmɪlɪˌtɛri ˈɡriːtɪŋ/
:
saludo militar
- She returned the military greeting with a crisp salute as the soldiers passed by.
Examples
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When the general entered the room, every soldier stood at attention and offered a military greeting.
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The recruit nervously gave his first military greeting in front of the officers.
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A proper military greeting is an important part of military discipline and tradition.
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Salute is a common military greeting.
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The officer offered a respectful military greeting.
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As members of the armed forces, they always extend a formal military greeting during ceremonies.
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The recruit practiced his military greeting in front of the mirror before meeting his commanding officer.
Synonyms
283
1.0
A friendly word or action you use when you meet someone
83
4.0
A formal gesture showing respect, like raising a hand or bowing
2
5.3
An act that shows respect or honor to someone like standing and clapping
How Respectful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is directly compositional: 'military' restricts the domain to the armed forces and 'greeting' denotes an acknowledgment, so a learner who knows both words can infer it means a greeting used by soldiers (e.g., a salute). This modifier + head structure is cross-linguistically common and follows ordinary English composition, making the meaning transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Military greeting comes from old actions where knights lifted the front of their helmet so people could see their face, and later soldiers raised a hand to show they had no weapon. One popular story says this clear, honest movement became a formal sign of 'respect', so a greeting in the military now means a formal, respectful gesture like a salute.