corporal Hear it!

corporal¹ Definition

cor·po·ral (kôr′pə rəl, -prəl)

noun

the lowest-ranking noncommissioned officer, just below a sergeant; specif., an enlisted person in the fourth grade in the U.S. Army and Marine Corps

Etymology: < Fr caporal < It caporale, a corporal < capo, chief, head < L caput, head: sp. infl. by assoc. with corps or corporal

corporal¹ Related Forms
cor′·po·ralcy noun pl. -·cies cor′·po·ral·ship′ noun
corporal² Definition

cor·po·ral (kôr′pə rəl, -prəl)

adjective

  1. of the body; bodily
  2. Now Rare personal
  3. Obsolete corporeal (sense )

Etymology: L corporalis < corpus (gen. corporis), body: see corpus

corporal² Related Forms
cor′·po·rally adverb
corporal³ Definition

cor·po·ral (kôr′pə rəl)

noun

Eccles. a small linen cloth put on the center of the altar, on which the bread and chalice are placed for the Eucharist

Etymology: OFr < ML corporale < corporalis (palla), body (cloth): see corporal

corporal Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • become: I say this, because David later went on to become a corporal in the Machine Gun Corps.
  • make: Sedgewick has been made an unpaid lance corporal and I have lost him for good.

Adjective modifier

  • former: They arrested former lance corporal Leslie Skinner who had been a training instructor at the camp.
  • young: It was somewhere along this ridge that a young German corporal, Adolf Hitler earned an Iron Cross.
  • German: It was somewhere along this ridge that a young German corporal, Adolf Hitler earned an Iron Cross.
  • little: Can't help thinking the little corporal was quite right.
  • old: Regards from a suddenly ancient feeling 42 year old ex corporal.

Modifies a noun

  • punishment: He's all for bringing back corporal punishment in schools too.
  • mortification: Is The Da Vinci Code's portayal of corporal mortification accurate?
  • work: Sebastian's corporal works of mercy went hand in hand with the spiritual.
  • oath: The plaintiff then offered to verify his claim by his corporal oath ( fn.

Modifying Another Word

  • back: He's all for bringing back corporal punishment in schools too.

Noun used with modifier

  • lance: They arrested former lance corporal Leslie Skinner who had been a training instructor at the camp.
  • army: HEARTBROKEN Debi Allbutt joined soccer fans in a minute's silence for her army corporal husband Stephen at his local Stoke City ground.
  • RAF: Adrian was just 25 when he died on February 6. A former RAF corporal from South Yorkshire, he first showed symptoms last March.

Possessives

  • guard: In battle this sentry was reinforced by a corporal's guard with fixed bayonets, or by midshipmen with loaded pistols.

Preposition: in

  • charge: The men remain seated, the corporal in charge rising in his place at the head of the table.
  • RAF: He was a corporal in the RAF who worked in a hospital in Ely.
  • army: Just five years earlier, Mussolini had been a corporal in the Italian Army fighting in World War One.
corporal Quotes

Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind With all thy charms, although this corporal rind Thou hast immanacl'd, while heav'n sees good.

—Milton,John

'A soldier,'cried my uncleToby, interrupting the corporal, 'isno more exempt fromsaying a foolishthing,Trim, than a man of letters.'ö'But not so often, an'please your honour,'replied the corporal.

—Sterne, Laurence