Meaning & use
standing army
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Meaning
nouncountablemilitary
A permanent army of professional soldiers that a country keeps ready at all times, not only during a war.
Grammar: Often appears with large, small or permanent: the country keeps a small standing army.
Patterns
- maintain a standing army
- a standing army of something
The republic refused to maintain a standing army in peacetime.
A standing army of fifty thousand men guarded the borders.
Many early Americans feared that a standing army would threaten liberty.
Word forms
| plural | standing armies |
|---|
Common combinations
- maintain a standing army
- It is costly to maintain a standing army.
- a professional standing army
- The kingdom built a professional standing army.
- disband a standing army
- After the war, the government decided to disband the standing army.
- a large standing army
- A large standing army requires heavy taxes.
- raise a standing army
- The ruler raised a standing army to defend the frontier.
Synonyms and how they differ
- regular army
- Regular army also means full-time professional soldiers, and it is a bit more common in everyday speech, while standing army often appears in debates about government power.
- professional army
- Professional army stresses that soldiers are paid career troops, while standing army stresses that the force exists permanently.
- permanent army
- Permanent army says the same thing in plain words, but is less established as a set phrase.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: standing army or militia?
standing army vs militia
A militia is made up of ordinary citizens who are called up for emergencies, but a standing army is full-time and permanent.
Practice
What makes an army a 'standing army'?
Choose one answer.
A standing army is permanent and professional. An army raised only in war or made of weekend volunteers describes a militia or reserve instead.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “standing army”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.