to work one's ticket
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
An army expression meaning to get one's discharge before the contract of service has expired.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to work one's ticket” mean?
An army expression meaning to get one's discharge before the contract of service has expired.
Is “to work one's ticket” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.