Meanings
nountour of duty (plural tours of duty)
plural tours of duty
- governmentA period of time spent on a specific assignment, especially on an overseas mission.
Almost every Marine in Viet Nam carries a short-timer’s calendar of his tour of duty—the usual 365 days—plus a bonus of 20 days for being a Marine.
1979, Gustav Hasford, The Short-Timers, New York: Bantam Books, published 1980, →ISBN, page 45
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna period of time spent in military service
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 任期
- 任期 (rènqī)period of time spent on a specific assignment, especially on an overseas mission
Finnish palvelusaika, komennusaika
- palvelusaikaperiod of time spent on a specific assignment, especially on an overseas mission
- komennusaikaperiod of time spent on a specific assignment, especially on an overseas mission
German Auslandseinsatz
- Auslandseinsatzperiod of time spent on a specific assignment, especially on an overseas mission
Spanish misión
- misiónperiod of time spent on a specific assignment, especially on an overseas mission
Cite this entry
APA
tour of duty. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tour%20of%20duty
MLA
“tour of duty.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tour%20of%20duty. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tour of duty,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tour%20of%20duty.
Source: tour of duty on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.