volunteer

1 of 3

noun

vol·​un·​teer ˌvä-lən-ˈtir How to pronounce volunteer (audio)
1
: a person who voluntarily undertakes or expresses a willingness to undertake a service: such as
a
: one who enters into military service voluntarily
b(1)
: one who renders a service or takes part in a transaction while having no legal concern or interest
(2)
: one who receives a conveyance or transfer of property without giving valuable consideration
2
: a volunteer plant
3
capitalized [Volunteers of America] : a member of a quasi-military religious and philanthropic organization founded in 1896 by Commander and Mrs. Ballington Booth

volunteer

2 of 3

verb

volunteered; volunteering; volunteers

intransitive verb

: to offer oneself as a volunteer
volunteered to host the meeting

transitive verb

: to offer or bestow voluntarily
volunteer one's services

volunteer

3 of 3

adjective

1
: being, consisting of, or engaged in by volunteers
a volunteer army
busy with volunteer activities
2
: growing spontaneously without direct human control or supervision especially from seeds lost from a previous crop
volunteer corn plants

Examples of volunteer in a Sentence

Noun Volunteers are needed to help with the bake sale. The school was built by volunteers. Verb Our son volunteered for military service. He would not volunteer any information about her whereabouts. Adjective volunteer work at the hospital
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
More than 300 volunteers, many of them Palestinian boy scouts, are set to direct men toward al-Aqsa and women toward the gold-leafed Dome of the Rock, day after day. Sufian Taha, Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2024 Every volunteer agreed to six VR exposure therapy sessions over two to three weeks that depicted generalized warzone situations. Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 7 Mar. 2024 Martin, the volunteer coordinator, spots the Biasis at a table. Sophie Carson, Journal Sentinel, 7 Mar. 2024 Employee volunteer programs have a positive correlation with worker retention, wellbeing, and engagement, according to a study published earlier this year by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford. Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 5 Mar. 2024 Toth and her team of volunteers are making the rounds through the Las Cruces Farmer's Market, collecting signatures to demand change. USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2024 The association has lost volunteers because of COVID-19 and hopes to revive its program in Morningside. Kamal Morgan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Mar. 2024 Urban planner Nithya Raman, then looking to oust Councilmember David Ryu, discussed her volunteer work on homelessness, touted her refusal to accept corporate money and called for the defunding of the LAPD. David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 2 Mar. 2024 The volunteer called Pepper’s owner, who brought his son to help rescue her, officials said. Paloma Chavez, Sacramento Bee, 7 Mar. 2024
Verb
The Tigerlily Foundation was a place where Reece volunteered and advocated for breast cancer patients in informational videos. Pamela Appea, Parents, 9 Mar. 2024 Jones’ father volunteered to speak with the deputy and said that Jones was out of control and needed to be charged, Idaho State Journal reported, citing the incident report. Samira Asma-Sadeque, Peoplemag, 8 Mar. 2024 Oles trains poll workers for the Placer County elections office, where she’s been working and volunteering for almost 50 years. Ariane Lange, Sacramento Bee, 5 Mar. 2024 Experts say adjustable timing around volunteering opportunities for employees is also key, and companies should think about offering flexible scheduling for employees looking to give back, including time off, or opportunities to offer their professional skills pro bono. Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 4 Mar. 2024 Both Biden and Baldwin highlighted the work of women in volunteering and mobilizing other voters. Journal Sentinel, 3 Mar. 2024 Students from 9th through 12th grade volunteered to take part in various class competitions that students paid to attend, according to the outlet. Anders Hagstrom, Fox News, 2 Mar. 2024 Each June, Deloitte organizes its Impact Day during which staffers engage in a wide range of volunteering opportunities, most of them team based. Alexander Puutio, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 Five women who sell their products in Screws and Sparkles volunteered to help Martinez run the store. Alexandra Hardle, The Arizona Republic, 27 Feb. 2024
Adjective
Within the past couple of years, the group has become a part of Arrowhead Kingdom, an all-volunteer national network of Chiefs fan groups. Hannah Kirby, Journal Sentinel, 8 Feb. 2023 That’s noteworthy for a show based at a high-school auditorium in Litchfield and run by a staff that is almost entirely volunteer, including the show’s star and its producer. Susan Dunne, Hartford Courant, 18 Aug. 2022 Cycling Schools is an all-volunteer, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Shirley MacFarland, cleveland, 22 July 2022 Unfortunately, there’s no major title sponsor now, and that makes everything tougher: paying for permits, paying overtime for police officers, paying for non-volunteer staff. Lori Nickel, Journal Sentinel, 16 June 2022 The fire company is the only one in Carroll County that is completely volunteer run, with no career fire personnel. Dylan Slagle, Baltimore Sun, 23 June 2022 Glauner noted that Fire Station 1, at 4383 Center Road, was built in 1960 with additional bays installed in the 1970s, at a time when the department was all-volunteer. Brian Lisik, cleveland, 15 Feb. 2022 New York’s state guard is all volunteer, as is Ohio’s. NBC News, 3 Feb. 2022 In rural America, 35% of ambulance services are all-volunteer. Steve Hartman, CBS News, 21 Jan. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'volunteer.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

obsolete French voluntaire (now volontaire), from voluntaire, adjective, voluntary, from Old French, from Latin voluntarius

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1600, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1709, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Adjective

1649, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of volunteer was circa 1600

Dictionary Entries Near volunteer

Cite this Entry

“Volunteer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/volunteer. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

volunteer

1 of 3 noun
vol·​un·​teer ˌväl-ən-ˈti(ə)r How to pronounce volunteer (audio)
: a person who volunteers for a service

volunteer

2 of 3 adjective
: being, consisting of, or engaged in by volunteers
a volunteer fire department
volunteer activities

volunteer

3 of 3 verb
1
: to offer voluntarily
volunteered my services
2
: to offer oneself as a volunteer
volunteered to do the job

Legal Definition

volunteer

noun
vol·​un·​teer ˌvä-lən-ˈtir How to pronounce volunteer (audio)
1
: one that voluntarily undertakes something
especially : one who without request, obligation, or an interest pays the debt of another and is denied reimbursement from subrogation
2
: one who receives property without giving valuable consideration

More from Merriam-Webster on volunteer

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!