buck sergeant
1
8.2
- noun
- /bʌk ˈsɑrdʒənt/
- Archaic
:
sargento raso
- The buck sergeant led the troops confidently through the training exercises.
Examples
-
McNasty was our buck sergeant.
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She was a buck sergeant, too.
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My sister was a buck sergeant in the WAFs and was stationed in London and Paris in '44 and '45.
Blog text (11) -
Tyler's driver, a young buck sergeant named Meers, heard the beeper and immediately started up the General's staff car, which was waiting just a few dozen yards away.
Fiction book (1991) -
The buck sergeant of the First Demolitions Section had heard that I'd trained as a commando and had been a member of the 29th Rangers, so he arranged to have me assigned to them.
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Our buck sergeant had a reputation for being tough but fair with the recruits.
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During the mission, the buck sergeant quickly organized the unit for an unexpected drill.
Synonyms
422
3.9
A military or police officer who is in charge of and trains lower-ranked people
Surface Forms
Morphology
buck + sergeant
Although 'sergeant' is transparent as a military rank, the element 'buck' here is jargon-like or idiosyncratic (and even listed as not found), so the specific sense 'sergeant of the lowest rank' cannot be derived from the literal meanings of the constituents. This is an idiomatic military term whose meaning is conventional rather than compositional, so a B1 learner who knows the words would still likely be confused.
Etymology
Buck sergeant may come from the old slang buck, which meant a young man or a new soldier, while sergeant is the rank. So a buck sergeant was a sergeant who was new or low in rank, and the term now means 'a sergeant of the lowest rank'.