King's shilling

English

Alternative forms

• Queen's shilling (during reigns when the monarch is a queen regnant)

Noun

King's shilling (plural King's shillings) (military)

1. (British, historical) A shilling accepted by new recruits when agreeing to or tricked into enlisting into the British army or navy during the 18th and 19th centuries.
   • 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Strife in Love”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC, part II, page 182:

     I have taken the King's shilling, but perhaps if you came for me they would let me go back with you. I was a fool when I did it. I don't want to be in the army.

2. (figurative) The benefits and rewards of military service.

Related terms

• take the shilling

Further reading

• King's shilling on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “queen’s shilling” under “shilling, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2023.
• “take the King’s shilling, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.