noun
an enlisted man in the marine corps ranking above a private first class and below a corporal
• Hypernyms: ↑noncommissioned officer, ↑noncom, ↑enlisted officer
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noun, pl ⋯ -rals [count]
: a person in the U.S. Marines, the Royal Marines, or the British Army with a rank just below that of corporal
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a member of one of the lower ranks in the British army
•
Lance Corporal Alan Smith
Word Origin:
late 18th cent.: on the analogy of obsolete lancepesade, the lowest grade of non-commissioned officer, based on Italian lancia spezzata ‘broken lance’.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.