How to Use civilian in a Sentence

civilian

1 of 2 noun
  • The bomb injured 12 civilians.
  • Hamas might have civilians give away weapons.
    — Benjamin Weinthal, FOXNews.com, 4 Feb. 2026
  • They’re not trained to come home and be civilians.
    — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 21 Jan. 2026
  • The front lines are moving fast for civilians too.
    — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 24 Feb. 2026
  • The risks to civilians who leave — and those who stay — are enormous.
    — Josh Holder, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Afghanistan had said only civilians were killed.
    — ABC News, 1 Mar. 2026
  • Afghanistan had said only civilians were killed.
    — Abdul Qahar Afghan, Arkansas Online, 2 Mar. 2026
  • Many of the victims were civilians.
    — ABC News, 18 Feb. 2026
  • The civilians in Iran have been left far behind.
    — ABC News, 14 June 2026
  • During the war in Gaza, many civilians were told to move south.
    — Maliha Rahman, Sun Sentinel, 5 Apr. 2026
  • Two others were caught in the slide but were rescued by civilians.
    — Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2024
  • And these civilians turn to each other and say, 'Who is that?
    — Benjamin Vanhoose, Peoplemag, 29 Nov. 2023
  • Teams walked up to many of those civilians and ask them for directions.
    — Michael Schneider, Variety, 20 Sep. 2023
  • To save meat for the troops, civilians were asked to cut it from their diets one day each week.
    — Joseph Epstein, WSJ, 30 Aug. 2023
  • Fifteen civilians have been killed.
    — Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today, 21 Mar. 2026
  • Fifteen civilians have been killed.
    — Michael Loria, USA Today, 22 Mar. 2026
  • Israel says the warnings aim to keep civilians out of harm's way.
    — ABC News, 30 Apr. 2026
  • Israel says the warnings aim to keep civilians out of harm’s way.
    — Isabel Debre, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026
  • The civilians caught in the middle aren't the only ones in need of help.
    — Sarah Baniak, ABC News, 19 Jan. 2026
  • That option would require boots on the ground—and could put civilians at risk.
    — Nancy A. Youssef, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2026
  • Health officials say scores of civilians have been killed in the strikes.
    — Sam Metz, Chicago Tribune, 25 Apr. 2026
  • Yes, way too many civilians, women and children have been killed.
    — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 28 June 2026
  • Gangs set fire to houses and left civilians reeling.
    — ABC News, 29 Mar. 2026
  • Eight policemen and at least four civilians died.
    — Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 6 June 2026
  • It wasn’t directed at civilians on the street.
    — Joshua Rhett Miller, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025
  • That was the mixture of civilians and celebrities.
    — Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 7 May 2026
  • The man who was killed was a civilian who was working at the location.
    — Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 22 May 2026
  • It is used to shoot missiles out of the sky that are targeting civilians.
    — Dan Adler, Vanity Fair, 15 May 2026
  • Two firefighters and a civilian were hurt.
    — Vanessa Murdock, CBS News, 5 Jan. 2026
  • The Russians are killing civilians.
    — Eleanor Beardsley, NPR, 17 Mar. 2026

civilian

2 of 2 adjective
  • The civilian death toll has prompted protests around the world.
    — Lawrence Richard, Fox News, 12 Mar. 2024
  • The airspace above Israel is closed to all civilian flights.
    — CBS News, 28 Feb. 2026
  • The planes that were shot down were unarmed civilian aircraft.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 20 May 2026
  • But the bombings have also claimed scores of civilian lives.
    — James Hider, NPR, 1 June 2026
  • Among them was one civilian victim, still unnamed.
    — Oriana Van Praag, New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2026
  • An all-civilian version of the show has also been announced as a spin-off.
    — Rosa Escandon, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Others swarmed a civilian pickup truck that was giving out loaves of bread and water.
    — Arkansas Online, 27 June 2026
  • There's been thousands of civilian deaths across the world, or maimings across the world, as a result of these.
    — Nbc Universal, NBC News, 9 July 2023
  • Both sides in the war struck new targets over the weekend, including civilian ones.
    — Elaine Kurtenbach, Fortune, 9 Mar. 2026
  • Hamas does this in Gaza by building their bases within civilian centers.
    — CBS News, 12 Apr. 2026
  • And the longer a campaign runs, the greater the risk of civilian casualties.
    — Nancy A. Youssef, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2026
  • The rescue group conducts civilian extractions in many parts of the world.
    — Julian Zamora, CNN Money, 17 Jan. 2026
  • The medal is the nation's highest civilian honor.
    — Melissa Galbraith, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2025
  • These groups often blurred the line between civilian and state violence.
    — Josiah Bates, Time, 14 Oct. 2025
  • But there had to be a very serious effort to deal with the civilian issues of a war in Gaza.
    — Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2025
  • But those same weapons have an impact on civilian populations in frontline cities as well.
    — Greg Dixon, NPR, 9 Apr. 2026
  • In his civilian life, Malinger has turned his passion for cars into a career.
    — Louis Peitzman, Entertainment Weekly, 30 June 2026
  • The test looked at how the laser system could safely find and target drones while working near civilian air traffic.
    — Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 8 May 2026
  • Most of the bodies appear to belong to young men, and those who are clothed appear to be wearing civilian clothes.
    — Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Military hardware is too pricey for the civilian market.
    — David Hambling, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Kabul said the strikes had hit civilian homes and a religious school and killed at least 18 people.
    — Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 27 Feb. 2026
  • Dual-use items can be used for both civilian and military purposes.
    — ABC News, 29 June 2026
  • The strikes left at least 820 civilian apartment buildings without heat.
    — Tom Zirpoli, Baltimore Sun, 17 Feb. 2026
  • Both sides have threatened, and hit, civilian targets and infrastructure in the war.
    — Sam Mednick, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2026
  • Now, a lot of people who were in the military just changed into civilian clothes and ran for government.
    — Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Dec. 2023
  • This was the first time a civilian airport in the United States had to shut down because of a drone threat.
    — Pat Ryan, New York Daily News, 28 Apr. 2026
  • But as the war tears at civilian life, Sashi’s four brothers and their friend K are pulled into the conflict.
    — Eliana Ramage september 4, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Iran also sent civilian aircraft to park in neighboring Afghanistan.
    — CBS News, 12 May 2026
  • Iran also sent civilian aircraft to park in neighboring Afghanistan.
    — James Laporta, CBS News, 11 May 2026
  • But your drones are going into civilian areas and hitting plants and hotels and civilians.
    — CBS News, 15 Mar. 2026

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

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