Definition of "veteran" in English

noun

1. A person with long experience of a particular activity.

   • The company's new hires were nervous, but the veterans were self-assured because, as one summarized it, "this isn't our first rodeo."

2. (figurative) A group, animal, etc. with long experience of a particular activity.

   • Their mules were clearly veterans. They seemed to know what to do even better than the teenage farmhand who was driving the team.

adjective

1. Having had long experience, practice, or service.

2. Of or relating to former members of the military armed forces, especially those who served during wartime.