doughboy

doughboy [doh-boi] ExamplesWord Origin noun

1. Informal. an American infantryman, especially in World War I.
2. a rounded mass of dough, boiled or steamed as a dumpling or deep-fried and served as a hot bread.

Origin of doughboy 1675–85; dough + boy; sense “infantryman,” from mid-1860s, is obscurely derived; two plausible, but unsubstantiated claims: doughboy orig. referred to the globular brass buttons on infantry uniforms, likened to the pastry; dough referred to a clay used to clean the white uniform belts Related Words for doughboys doughboys, serviceperson Examples from the Web for doughboys Contemporary Examples of doughboys

It was something that the doughboys brought back with them.

The Last Dick

Michael Schaffer

December 2, 2008

Historical Examples of doughboys

And he says the roads are fairly choked with doughboys moving this way.

Army Boys on the Firing Line

Homer Randall

But the girl had her reward, in the looks of gratitude which the doughboys gave her.

With the Doughboy in France

Edward Hungerford

Doughboys is the popular present-day nickname for infantrymen.

Trench Ballads and Other Verses

Erwin Clarkson Garrett

The enemy fell to pieces as soon as the doughboys came along.

People of Destiny

Philip Gibbs

A little after eleven the doughboys started back to their billets for dinner.

The A.E.F.

Heywood Broun

British Dictionary definitions for doughboys doughboy noun

1. US informal an infantryman, esp in World War I
2. dough that is boiled or steamed as a dumpling

Word Origin and History for doughboys doughboy n.

“U.S. soldier,” 1864, American English, said to have been in oral use from 1854, or from the Mexican-American War (1847), it is perhaps from resemblance of big buttons on old uniforms to a sort of biscuit of that name (1680s), but there are various other conjectures.

doughboys in Culture doughboys

United States infantry soldiers who served in World War I.