mercenaries

Noun

mercenary (plural mercenaries)

1. One motivated by gain, especially monetary.
   • J. Argyrofylus, a mercenary Greek, who came to teach school in Italy, after the sacking of Constantinople by the Turks, used to maintain that Cicero understood neither Philosophy nor Greek1753, Alexander Pope, edited by William Warburton, The Works of Alexander Pope, Esq: Satires, &c, page 22
2. A person employed to fight in an armed conflict who is not a member of the state or military group for which they are fighting and whose primary motivation is private gain.
   • He exhorts the emperor to revive the courage of his subjects by the example of manly virtue; to banish luxury from the court and from the camp; to substitute in the place of the Barbarian mercenaries, an army of men interested in the defence of their laws and of their property1781, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume 3
3. (figuratively) One hired to engage in a figurative battle, as a corporate takeover, a lawsuit, or a political campaign.

See all 4 meanings of mercenary