Meaning & use
minuteman
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A colonial American militia member who was ready to fight at very short notice during the Revolutionary War.
Grammar: Countable; plural is minutemen.
Patterns
- a minuteman
- the minutemen
- join the minutemen
The minutemen were farmers and townspeople who could be called to fight within minutes.
A statue of a minuteman stands in the town square.
During the Revolutionary War, minutemen played a key role at Lexington and Concord.
nouncountablemilitary
A type of U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile.
Grammar: Usually capitalized in this sense: Minuteman missile.
Patterns
- a Minuteman missile
- the Minuteman program
The Minuteman III is a long-range nuclear missile.
Engineers tested the Minuteman missile system.
Word forms
| plural | minutemen |
|---|
Common combinations
- minuteman missile
- The Minuteman missile can travel thousands of miles.
- colonial minuteman
- The colonial minuteman kept his gun ready by the door.
- minuteman statue
- The minuteman statue honors local soldiers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- militiaman
- A more general term for a member of a militia; minutemen were a specific group ready to fight quickly.
- soldier
- A general word for someone in an army; minutemen were not full-time soldiers.
Word family
- minute noun
- A unit of time; the minutemen were named for being ready in a minute.
Commonly confused: minuteman or Minuteman?
minuteman vs Minuteman
Capitalized, it often refers to the missile; lowercase usually refers to the historical militia member.
Practice
The ______ were ready to fight at a moment's notice during the American Revolution.
Choose one answer.
Minutemen is the plural of minuteman and fits the historical context. Minutes means units of time, minutiae means small details, and minute is singular or an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “minuteman”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.