Word.ws English Dictionary

King's shilling

King's shilling noun: a shilling accepted by new recruits when agreeing to or tricked into enlisting into the British army or navy during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Noun

King's shilling (plural King's shillings)

  1. (UK, historical) A shilling accepted by new recruits when agreeing to or tricked into enlisting into the British army or navy during the 18th and 19th centuries.
    • I have taken the King's shilling, but perhaps if you came for me they would let me go back with you. I was a fool when I did it. I don't want to be in the army.1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Strife in Love”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC, part II, page 182
  2. (figuratively) The benefits and rewards of military service.

Forms of King's shilling

pluralKing's shillings
alternative formQueen's shilling

Questions about King's shilling

What does King's shilling mean?
King's shilling means a shilling accepted by new recruits when agreeing to or tricked into enlisting into the British army or navy during the 18th and 19th centuries.
What part of speech is King's shilling?
King's shilling is a noun.
What is the plural of King's shilling?
The plural of King's shilling is King's shillings.

Words near King's shilling in the dictionary

  1. king's ransoms
  2. king's rook's pawn
  3. king's rook's pawns
  4. King's Scout
  5. King's Scouts
  6. King's shilling
  7. King's shillings
  8. King's Somborne
  9. king's spear
  10. King's speech
  11. King's Sutton

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: King's shilling (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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