soldier on

verb

To continue or persist, despite adversity or difficulty.

“He soldiered on through the night, working hard and not sleeping.”

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Meanings

verbsoldier on (third-person singular simple present soldiers on, present participle soldiering on, simple past and past participle soldiered on)

present singular third person soldiers on · participle present soldiering on · participle past soldiered on · past soldiered on

  1. intransitiveTo continue or persist, despite adversity or difficulty.

    He soldiered on through the night, working hard and not sleeping.

    1 more example

    But what was Northern meant to do, bearing in mind that the Class 142s and '144s' had to soldier on in service beyond their planned withdrawal dates, due to the late delivery of cascaded trains and the late entry into traffic of the £500m, 101-strong order of CAF multiple units?

    2020 June 17, Jim McMahon tells Richard Clinnick, “Stepping out of the shadows”, in Rail, page 41

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
persevereplug

Translations

Czech táhnout to dál, nevzdávat to
  • táhnout to dálcontinue or persist, despite adversity or difficulty
  • nevzdávat tocontinue or persist, despite adversity or difficulty
  • zatnout zuby a pokračovatcontinue or persist, despite adversity or difficulty
Finnish sinnitellä
  • sinnitelläcontinue or persist, despite adversity or difficulty
French tenir bon
  • tenir boncontinue or persist, despite adversity or difficulty
Icelandic seiglast við, láta ekki deigan síga
  • seiglast viðcontinue or persist, despite adversity or difficulty
  • láta ekki deigan sígacontinue or persist, despite adversity or difficulty
  • halda ótrauður áframcontinue or persist, despite adversity or difficulty
  • láta engan bilbug á sér finnacontinue or persist, despite adversity or difficulty
  • halda sínu strikicontinue or persist, despite adversity or difficulty
  • gefast ekki uppcontinue or persist, despite adversity or difficulty
Polish kontynuować
  • kontynuowaćcontinue or persist, despite adversity or difficulty
Spanish seguir en la brecha
  • seguir en la brechacontinue or persist, despite adversity or difficulty
Cite this entry
APA

soldier on. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soldier%20on

MLA

“soldier on.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soldier%20on. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “soldier on,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soldier%20on.

Source: soldier on on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.