as in abandonment
the act of abandoning
the soldiers were imprisoned for desertion of their posts
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Recent Examples of desertion
Afterward, a mock court-martial was held, complete with the sentencing and execution of a private accused of desertion.
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Arkansas Online, 5 Apr. 2025
Death in a hail of bullets has been used to punish mutinies and desertion in armies, as frontier justice in America's Old West and as a tool of terror and political repression in the former Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
—arkansasonline.com, 8 Mar. 2025
The figure includes deaths, debilitating injuries—and desertions, nearly 10 percent of the total.
—David Axe, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2025
During the Civil War, firing squads were common for executing soldiers for desertion; in some cases, they would be blindfolded and tied to stakes before being shot.
—Erik Ortiz, NBC News, 2 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desertion
Arkansas Online, 5 Apr. 2025
Death in a hail of bullets has been used to punish mutinies and desertion in armies, as frontier justice in America's Old West and as a tool of terror and political repression in the former Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
—arkansasonline.com, 8 Mar. 2025
The figure includes deaths, debilitating injuries—and desertions, nearly 10 percent of the total.
—David Axe, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2025
During the Civil War, firing squads were common for executing soldiers for desertion; in some cases, they would be blindfolded and tied to stakes before being shot.
—Erik Ortiz, NBC News, 2 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desertion
Cite this Entry
“Desertion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desertion. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
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