Learning / English Dictionary

VOLUNTEER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A native or resident of Tennessee

Synonyms:

Tennessean; Volunteer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Volunteer" is a kind of...):

American (a native or inhabitant of the United States)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person who performs voluntary work

Synonyms:

unpaid worker; volunteer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("volunteer" is a kind of...):

worker (a person who works at a specific occupation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "volunteer"):

candy striper (a volunteer worker in a hospital)

pledge taker (a volunteer who records (usually by telephone) contributions pledged in a fund drive)

vigilance man; vigilante (member of a vigilance committee)

Derivation:

volunteer (do volunteer work)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(military) a person who freely enlists for service

Synonyms:

military volunteer; voluntary; volunteer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("volunteer" is a kind of...):

man; military man; military personnel; serviceman (someone who serves in the armed forces; a member of a military force)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Antonym:

draftee (someone who is drafted into military service)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Without payment

Example:

a volunteer fire department

Synonyms:

unpaid; volunteer

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

voluntary (of your own free will or design; done by choice; not forced or compelled)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Tell voluntarily

Example:

He volunteered the information

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "volunteer" is one way to...):

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 2

Meaning:

Do volunteer work

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "volunteer" is one way to...):

work (exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

voluntary ((military) a person who freely enlists for service)

volunteer (a person who performs voluntary work)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Agree freely

Example:

I offered to help with the dishes but the hostess would not hear of it

Synonyms:

offer; volunteer

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "volunteer" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They volunteer to move

Credits

 Context examples: 

The scientists determined the pattern of the volunteers’ brain activity as they focused on each item.

(Recalling temporary memories, NIH)

Energy expenditure was determined by measuring the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the volunteers’ breath.

(Fitness Trackers Bad at Measuring Calories Burned, Study Says, VOA)

This month, you may make it a resolution to volunteer for a charity and find the work outstandingly gratifying.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Before the yellow balls popped up, volunteers had already noticed green bubbles with red centers, populating a landscape of swirling gas and dust.

(Citizen Scientists Discover Yellow "Space Balls", NASA)

A person volunteering to participate as a subject in a clinical trial, often a healthy person agreeing to participate in a Phase 1 trial.

(Clinical Trial Subject, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

The group of 11 volunteers had low immunity to the 2015-2016 seasonal influenza vaccine’s virus strains.

(Disrupting the gut microbiome may affect some immune responses to flu vaccination, National Institutes of Health)

In medicine, a group of non-scientist volunteers that serves as a link between a community and clinical trial researchers.

(CAB, NCI Dictionary)

A team of health care professionals and volunteers provides it.

(Hospice Care, NIH: National Cancer Institute)

Second mate volunteered to steer and watch, and let men snatch a few hours' sleep.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Bibles and Prayer-books seemed scarce articles, but one of the men volunteered to pursue the quest amongst the watch below, returning in a minute with the information that there was none.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)