Synonyms

active duty

American

noun

Military.

the status of full-time service.

on active duty.

active duty Idioms

Full-time service, as in Julian is 81, but he still comes to the office every day and is very much on active duty. This term comes from the military, where it stands in opposition to reserve, which refers to troops still in the military but not actively engaged. It is occasionally transferred to civilian matters as well. [First half of 1800s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“That about sums it up, Cadet Fitz, but like I was saying,” he went on, “that first partner pair just graduated from our prototype program and entered active duty, and they are surpassing their single counterparts in almost every way. Especially when it comes to identifying and taking down members of Mayhem. As such, we have recently received the go-ahead to make the program permanent. I’ve been sitting in on all the simulation level tests to watch for compatible matchups.”

From Literature

The Revolutionary Guard has an estimated 190,000 active duty personnel, or nearly 10 times the size of Hezbollah’s force before the 2024 Israeli offensive.

From The Wall Street Journal

LONDON—In 2001, Prince Andrew retired from active duty in the Royal Navy, with a reputation as a war hero and something of a playboy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Kelly could even be recalled to active duty, then court-martialed, an act that would remove his military status entirely and even land the senator in prison.

From Slate

Some western estimates put its active duty contingent in the hundreds of thousands, still a very substantial total.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023