oak leaf cluster
- noun
- /oʊk liːf ˈklʌstər/
- Jargon
:
racimo de hojas de roble
- He proudly wore his medals, including an oak leaf cluster, on Veterans Day.
Examples
-
After being awarded the oak leaf cluster, she felt honored to have her service recognized.
-
The soldier received an oak leaf cluster for his bravery during multiple missions.
-
The second oak leaf cluster represent the third medal, which was given for meditorious service.
Synonyms
9
4.1
A medal or ribbon given to honor someone's achievement
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally denotes a 'cluster of oak leaves', so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will grasp the physical image. However, the entrenched, culture-specific meaning as a U.S. military device indicating additional awards is a specialized, non-compositional usage that cannot be fully predicted from the parts.
Etymology
The noun oak leaf cluster comes from a real military practice of adding small metal oak leaves and acorns to a medal or ribbon each time a person wins the same award, and the little leaves were often placed together in a cluster. So, an oak leaf cluster on a ribbon shows 'additional awards' and means the person has received that medal 'more than once'.