1. colonial American militia members who were ready to fight at a minute’s notice during the Revolutionary War period
Usage: historical; plural form

Examples

• The minutemen gathered at Lexington and Concord in 1775.
• Paul Revere warned the minutemen that the British were coming.
• These citizen soldiers were called minutemen because they could be ready to fight within a minute.
• The minutemen played a crucial role in the early battles of the American Revolution.
• Local farmers and craftsmen served as minutemen in their communities.
• The statue honors the minutemen who defended their town during the war.