national servicen.
/ˌnaʃn̩(ə)l ˈsəːvɪs/, /ˌnaʃən(ə)l ˈsəːvɪs/, U.S. /ˌnæʃən(ə)l ˈsərvəs/, /ˌnæʃn(ə)l ˈsərvəs/ 1. Compulsory service in the armed forces, as during wartime or for a legally required period (usually between certain ages) during peacetime.In Britain, national service for young men was introduced just before the Second World War (under the National Service (Armed Forces) Act of June 1939) and officially ended in 1962; conscription under the various Military Service Acts of the First World War (1914–18) was not usually referred to as national service (but see quot. 1902).In some states, peacetime national service may include both military and non-military alternatives.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military service > [noun] > type or manner of service > compulsory
national service1902
1704 T. Baker Act at Oxf. iv. ii. 38 I'd ha' such Amazons sent into the National Service; I warrant her she'd rout a Regiment of French Dragoons.]
1902 Times 27 Feb. 7/1 That it is desirable that either military or naval service for national defence should be made compulsory by law... That a league to be called the National Service League shall be established to promote these objects.
1916 R. Fry Let. 25 Jan. (1972) II. 393 I don't think Ha talked to me of national service.
1916 Hansard Commons 19 Dec. 1352 It is proposed to appoint at once a director of National Service, to be in charge of both the military and civil side of universal national service.
1939 Hansard Commons 2 Sept. 240 National Service (armed forces) Bill, ‘to make provision for securing and controlling the enlistment of men for services in the armed forces of the Crown’.
1940 H. G. Wells Babes in Darkling Wood i. i. 21 Romeo and Juliet weren't called on for national service.
1944 J. S. Huxley On Living in Revol. 21 It is both probable and desirable that some form of National Service will continue after the war is over.
1958 M. Kerr People of Ship Street iii. 29 The boys in between 18 and 20 are of course doing National Service.
1982 T. Gunn Occasions of Poetry ii. 172 Then I did my two years national service in the army.
2000 Daily Tel. 11 July 17/6 Whenever there's an outbreak of yobbery, people of a certain age will tell phone-in shows that National Service should be brought back.
2. = National Programme n. at national adj. and n. Compounds. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > broadcasting > radio broadcasting > [noun] > radio service > specific
Radio 1, 2, 3, 4, 51920
2LO1923
National Programme1930
regional1930
national1931
Home Programme1939
home service1939
World Service1939
Light Programme1945
Third Programme1946
home1947
light1948
VOA1949
national service1956
1956 B. Paulu Brit. Broadcasting vii. 145 From 1930 to the outbreak of World War II, there was the National Service, uniform throughout the country, consisting mainly of London programs of national appeal.
1965 A. Briggs Golden Age of Wireless 36 By 1934..there was more light entertainment on the National than on the Regional service.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1902