Definitions for volunteerˌvɒl ənˈtɪər

Random House Webster's College Dictionary

vol•un•teerˌvɒl ənˈtɪər(n.)

a person who voluntarily offers himself or herself for a service or undertaking.
a person who performs a service willingly and without pay.
a person who enters military service voluntarily rather than through conscription.
Category: Military
a person who acts without legal obligation to do so, esp. such a person who pays the debt of another.
Category: Law
a plant that has sprung up spontaneously from seed rather than having been planted or cultivated.
Category: Agriculture, Botany
(adj.)of, pertaining to, or serving as a volunteer.
consisting of or performed by volunteers:
a volunteer army.
(v.i.)to offer oneself for some service or undertaking.
to enter service or enlist as a volunteer.
Category: Military
(v.t.)to offer (oneself or one's services) for some undertaking or purpose.
to give, bestow, or perform voluntarily.
to say, tell, or communicate voluntarily:
to volunteer an explanation.

Origin of volunteer:

1590–1600; < F volontaire < L voluntāriusvoluntary

Princeton's WordNet

volunteer, military volunteer, voluntary(noun)
(military) a person who freely enlists for service
volunteer, unpaid worker(noun)
a person who performs voluntary work
Tennessean, Volunteer(adj)
a native or resident of Tennessee
unpaid, volunteer(a)(verb)
without payment
"the soup kitchen was run primarily by unpaid helpers"; "a volunteer fire department"
volunteer(verb)
tell voluntarily
"He volunteered the information"
volunteer, offer(verb)
agree freely
"She volunteered to drive the old lady home"; "I offered to help with the dishes but the hostess would not hear of it"
volunteer(verb)
do volunteer work

Kernerman English Learner's Dictionary

volunteer(noun)ˌvɒl ənˈtɪər
sb who offers to do sth
I need three volunteers to help me.
volunteerˌvɒl ənˈtɪər
sb who works without pay in order to help
a volunteer at the local library
volunteer(verb)ˌvɒl ənˈtɪər
to offer to do sth
Nobody volunteered to help at the church fair.
volunteerˌvɒl ənˈtɪər
to join the armed forces by choice
He volunteered for the army.

Wiktionary

volunteer(Noun)
One who enters into, or offers for, any service of his/her own free will, especially when done without pay.
volunteer(Noun)
One who enters into military service voluntarily, but who, when in service, is subject to discipline and regulations like other soldiers; -- opposed to conscript; specifically, a voluntary member of the organized militia of a country as distinguished from the standing army.
volunteer(Noun)
A person who acts out of his own will without a legal obligation, such as a donor.
volunteer(Noun)
A plant that grows in disturbed soil.
volunteer(Noun)
A native or resident of the American state of Tennessee.
volunteer(Verb)
To enlist oneself as a volunteer.
volunteer(Verb)
To do or offer to do something voluntarily.
volunteer(Verb)
To grow without human sowing or intentional cultivation.

Origin: From voluntaire, from voluntarius

Webster Dictionary

Volunteer(adj)
one who enters into, or offers for, any service of his own free will
Volunteer(adj)
one who enters into service voluntarily, but who, when in service, is subject to discipline and regulations like other soldiers; -- opposed to conscript; specifically, a voluntary member of the organized militia of a country as distinguished from the standing army
Volunteer(adj)
a grantee in a voluntary conveyance; one to whom a conveyance is made without valuable consideration; a party, other than a wife or child of the grantor, to whom, or for whose benefit, a voluntary conveyance is made
Volunteer(adj)
of or pertaining to a volunteer or volunteers; consisting of volunteers; voluntary; as, volunteer companies; volunteer advice
Volunteer(verb)
to offer or bestow voluntarily, or without solicitation or compulsion; as, to volunteer one's services
Volunteer(verb)
to enter into, or offer for, any service of one's own free will, without solicitation or compulsion; as, he volunteered in that undertaking

Translations for volunteer

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary

volunteer(verb)

to offer oneself for a particular task, of one's own free will (often without being paid for such work)

He volunteered to act as messenger; She volunteered for the dangerous job.

vrywilligerAfrikaans
مُتَطَوِّعArabic
отзовавам сеBulgarian
voluntariar(-se)Portuguese (BR)
dobrovolně se (při)hlásitCzech
sich freiwillig anbietenGerman
melde sig frivilligtDanish
προσφέρομαι εθελοντικάGreek
ofrecerse voluntarioSpanish
(end) vabatahtlikuna esitamaEstonian
داوطلب شدنFarsi
ilmoittautua vapaaehtoiseksiFinnish
se porter volontaireFrench
לְהִתנַדֵבHebrew
स्वे्छा से काम करनाHindi
dragovoljacCroatian
önként jelentkezikHungarian
menawarkan diriIndonesian
bjóðast til að gera e-ð, gerast sjálfboðaliðiIcelandic
(offrirsi come volontario)Italian
志願するJapanese
자진하여 하다Korean
pasisiūlyti, pasiprašytiLithuanian
brīvprātīgi pieteikties/uzņemtiesLatvian
bersukarelaMalay
zich vrijwillig aanbiedenDutch
melde seg frivillig, tilby (seg)Norwegian
zaofiarować się, zgłaszać się na ochotnikaPolish
داوطلب شدنPersian
په خپله خوښه وركول, په خپله خوښه وروړاندې كيدلPashto
voluntárioPortuguese
a se oferi de bună voieRomanian
вызываться добровольноRussian
dobrovoľne urobiť, al. ponúknuťSlovak
prostovoljno se javitiSlovenian
prijaviti se dobrovoljnoSerbian
frivilligt erbjuda (åta) sig, anmäla sig som frivillig, ställa upp frivilligtSwedish
สมัครใจทำ (บางสิ่ง)Thai
gönüllü olmakTurkish
自願(做某事)Chinese (Trad.)
визватисяUkrainian
رضاکارUrdu
tình nguyệnVietnamese
自愿（做某事）Chinese (Simp.)