Definition of "mercenary" []

• Motivated solely by a desire for monetary or material gain. (adjective)
• Hired for service in a foreign army. (adjective)
• One who serves or works merely for monetary gain; a hireling. (noun)
• A professional soldier hired for service in a foreign army. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "TED KOPPEL: They don't like the term mercenary at Blackwater USA."
• "By the term mercenary, I don't mean ruthless and cold killing for a buck."
• "The generous outreach to Sunnis is widely viewed as a profound betrayal by Bahrain's rulers and feeds Shiite perceptions of second-class status and being under siege from what they call a "mercenary" security force."