conscript
noun
con·​script
| \ ˈkän-ˌskript
\
\
Definition of conscript
(Entry 1 of 3)
: a conscripted person (such as a military recruit)
conscript
adjective
con·​script
| \ ˈkän-ˌskript
\
\
Definition of conscript (Entry 2 of 3)
1
: enrolled into service by compulsion : drafted
2
: made up of conscripted persons
conscript
verb
con·​script
| \ kən-ˈskript
\
\
conscripted;
conscripting;
conscripts
Definition of conscript (Entry 3 of 3)
: to enroll into service by compulsion : draft
was conscripted into the army
Keep scrolling for more
Examples of conscript in a Sentence
Noun
as the war continued, the body of enlisted soldiers was supplemented by an increasing number of conscriptsVerb
The government is conscripting men for the army. He was conscripted into the army.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
When he’s kidnapped by an off-duty LAPD officer, Vic (Bautista), who is on a vengeance mission and conscripts Stu into the torture and murder of civilians. — Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, "Billed an action comedy, ‘Stuber’ is more like a cinematic car wreck," 11 July 2019 This clause has been upheld as constitutional by South Korean courts in the past, but is currently being challenged again in two ongoing cases by former conscripts. — James Griffiths, CNN, "Gay and trans soldiers say they were abused in South Korean military," 10 July 2019 This week a new 70,000-strong National Guard, mainly of former army conscripts, began to deploy to 150 of the most violent localities across the country. — The Economist, "AMLO’s populism is both rampant and constrained," 4 July 2019 The Americans in the fall had often faced poorly trained Bolshevik conscripts. — Michael M. Phillips, WSJ, "The One Time American Troops Fought Russians Was at the End of World War I—and They Lost," 9 Nov. 2018 Since Israel is a small country whose military is largely composed of conscripts, the barrier between the IDF and the civilian world is relatively low. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Israeli Troops Caught Posting Pictures of Classified Hardware," 1 Aug. 2018 Well, one recent study revealed the average height of male army conscripts in the Netherlands—the home of 6-foot-5 goalkeeping great Edwin van der Sar—had grown by 8.3 inches from 1858 to 1997. — Grant Wahl, SI.com, "Masters of Modern Soccer: Christian Pulisic and the Craft of the Attacking Midfielder," 1 May 2018 When he’s kidnapped by an off-duty LAPD officer, Vic (Bautista), who is on a vengeance mission and conscripts Stu into the torture and murder of civilians. — Katie Walsh, chicagotribune.com, "‘Stuber’ review: Skip this ride starring Kumail Nanjiani, Dave Bautista," 11 July 2019 When he’s kidnapped by an off-duty LAPD officer, Vic (Bautista), who is on a vengeance mission and conscripts Stu into the torture and murder of civilians. — Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, "Billed an action comedy, ‘Stuber’ is more like a cinematic car wreck," 11 July 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
The Tumin story seems quaint in the era of social media and smartphone videos, especially as our prurient obsessions increasingly conscript private and unprivileged individuals for national scolding. — James Panero, WSJ, "Where’s the Mercy in ‘Social Justice’?," 23 Jan. 2019 Their command-and-conscript regime would have forced states to close coal plants with years of remaining useful life and before alternatives could compensate for the lost power supply. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "Not the Climate Apocalypse," 21 Aug. 2018 The rank-and-file in the new conscript army were brutalised. — The Economist, "Why modern Japan’s founding moment still divides a nation," 11 Jan. 2018 Thai police have accused ten soldiers of beating a 22-year-old army conscript to death in a military prison. — Bay Area News Group, The Mercury News, "Drafted! Photos of Thailand’s annual military draft lottery," 5 Apr. 2017 Syria’s large Sunni majority dominates the insurgency, and also the army conscript pool. — Anne Barnard And Hwaida Saad, New York Times, "Syrian Officer Gave a View of War. ISIS Came, and Silence Followed.," 14 Feb. 2016 Under the conscript system, all eligible men are required to serve about two years. — Choe Sang-hun, New York Times, "South Korea Military Is Accused of Cracking Down on Gay Soldiers," 26 Apr. 2017Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
On the run from the bounty on his head, Lurie crosses paths, inexplicably, with the United States Camel Corps, an obscure slice of American history in which the Army, briefly, conscripted camels for the war effort. — Barbara Vandenburgh, USA TODAY, "Téa Obreht follows up 'The Tiger's Wife' with 'Inland' a haunted, fantastical Western," 13 Aug. 2019 Kim's family told investigators that his father-in-law had been conscripted as a forced laborer during the Japanese occupation. — NBC News, "John Bolton travels to Japan, South Korea amid trade dispute between U.S. allies," 21 July 2019 Most of them were likely detained by the regime as suspected rebels, forcibly conscripted into Assad’s army or killed. — Josh Rogin, The Denver Post, "Commentary: U.S. won’t feed 30,000 starving Syrians living under its protection," 24 July 2019 But the cause of greatest annoyance to Japan are rulings last autumn by South Korea’s Supreme Court against two Japanese industrial giants that conscripted Koreans during the war. — The Economist, "Relations between Japan and South Korea are fraying alarmingly," 18 July 2019 In these cases, the accuser is not so much disbelieved as conscripted into a narrative of women attempting to victimize men by arousing public sympathy. — Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker, "E. Jean Carroll’s Accusation Against Donald Trump, and the Raising, and Lowering, of the Bar," 25 June 2019 Pragmatic choices like this one, or like the decision his grandparents made when their sons were conscripted, recur in his fiction—situations that present equally unconscionable choices on either side of a moral fulcrum. — Jiayang Fan, The New Yorker, "Liu Cixin’s War of the Worlds," 17 June 2019 Schwarzenegger first learned to drive a tank in Austria in the 1960s, when he was conscripted into the Austrian Army. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Watch Arnold Schwarzenegger Crush a Limo With His Own Tank," 30 July 2018 When the civil war resumed, after the Second World War, both sides conscripted men. — Jiayang Fan, The New Yorker, "Liu Cixin’s War of the Worlds," 17 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'conscript.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for conscript
conscript
noun
English Language Learners Definition of conscript
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a person who is forced to serve in the armed forces
conscript
verb
English Language Learners Definition of conscript (Entry 2 of 2)
: to force (someone) to serve in the armed forces
See the full definition for conscript in the English Language Learners Dictionary