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# civilian

«civilian» in Mova's school dictionary: **not in the army, navy, air force or police** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a civilian, civilians); adjective (civilian)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A person who is not in the army, navy, air force or police. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/civilian/#m1)

2) (adjective) To do with ordinary people rather than soldiers: civilian clothes, civilian life. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/civilian/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In history lessons on wars, civilians are the ordinary people (children, families) affected by fighting, bombing and evacuation. In stories a soldier returning to "civilian life" goes back to ordinary life. Phrases: civilian casualties, civilian clothes, return to civilian life.

### examples

- Many civilians were evacuated from the cities during the war. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/civilian/#x1)
- The soldier changed into civilian clothes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/civilian/#x2)
- After the army, Grandad went back to civilian life. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/civilian/#x3)
- Rules of war say civilians must be protected. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/civilian/#x4)
- The police officer was off duty and dressed as a civilian. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/civilian/#x5)
- Civilian planes carry passengers, not weapons. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/civilian/#x6)

### note

Countable. It is the opposite of "military" or "soldier". Related to civil and citizen.

### In the corpora

- ["Soft target" means unprotected people or places, often ordinary civilians (people who are not soldiers).](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/26-war-and-the-military/7/)
- [Unlike a playground scrap, many ordinary people, called civilians, lose their homes, their safety or their lives.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/23-why-wars-happen-the-un-and-nato/1/)
- [A war is armed fighting between countries or large armed groups; civilians are ordinary people who are not soldiers.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/23-why-wars-happen-the-un-and-nato/9/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «civilian» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/civilian/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.