1
a(1)
: a military leader : the commander of a unit or a body of troops
(2)
: a subordinate officer commanding under a sovereign or general
(3)
: a commissioned officer in the army, air force, or marine corps ranking above a first lieutenant and below a major
b(1)
: a naval officer who is master or commander of a ship
(2)
: a commissioned officer in the navy ranking above a commander and below a commodore and in the coast guard ranking above a commander and below a rear admiral
c
: a senior pilot who commands the crew of an airplane
d
: an officer in a police department or fire department in charge of a unit (such as a precinct or company) and usually ranking above a lieutenant and below a chief
2
: one who leads or supervises: such as
a
: a leader of a sports team or side
b
c
: a person in charge of hotel bellhops
called also bell captain
3
: a person of importance or influence in a field
captains of industry
Synonyms
Examples of captain in a Sentence
Noun
The captain has turned off the “fasten seat belt” sign.
the captain is responsible for everything that happens to his ship in the course of a voyage
Verb
The ship was captained by John Smith.
She captained last year's team.
Recent Examples on the Web
Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2024
Siya Kolisi, as the captain of the national rugby team, is right at the center.
—Trevor Noah, TIME, 17 Apr. 2024
Paye, who was born at Stanford hospital, is a former Cardinal team captain and served on VanDerveer’s coaching staff for 17 seasons, officially was named Stanford’s head coach in a release by the school.
—Laurence Miedema, The Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2024
Advertisement The Trojans could turn to another transfer to lead the defensive bounce back as former Vanderbilt captain Nate Clifton has emerged as a steady force, Riley said.
—Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2024
The superyacht captain and gospel singer, who got engaged in September, have officially listed their Colorado townhouse for $685,000.
—Natalia Senanayake, Peoplemag, 12 Apr. 2024
The Kansas City Royals captain felt nothing could soothe the sting of a tough loss.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 11 Apr. 2024
Flying the drone over Ecorse Creek was firefighter Eric Poet of the Huron Township Fire Department and giving direction was Jerry Hollis, a fire captain with the Wayne County Airport Authority, and also team coordinator with the Downriver Logistics Team, in charge of the drone.
—Bill Laytner, Detroit Free Press, 11 Apr. 2024
Current team captain Becky Sauerbrunn and other current players quickly endorsed Rapinoe’s sentiments.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2024
Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 17 Apr. 2024
Khan, who captained Pakistan to cricket World Cup glory in 1992 and entered politics four years later, rose to power on a ticket of anti-corruption.
—Sophia Saifi, CNN, 6 Feb. 2024
The losers were captained by a player who, in this same event last year, acquiesced to calling an inconsequential cell-phone penalty on an opponent, flipping the result of a match his team lost at the table.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 31 Mar. 2024
Team MacKinnon will be captained by Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon, with Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar serving as assistant captain and Tate McRae serving as the celebrity captain.
—Mike Brehm, USA TODAY, 1 Feb. 2024
Gobin had reached the pinnacle of U.S. polo in the 1990s and 2000s, captaining national teams and winning international cups.
—Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2024
Royals captain Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin remain as the Royals top catchers.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024
Teams captained by Quinn Hughes and Auston Matthews will play in the other semifinal, and the winners of the semifinals will meet in the final.
—Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 2 Feb. 2024
But while most of Barreiro’s co-defendants have been sentenced to periods between four and six years for their more minor roles, such as captaining drug-laden boats, Barreiro was described in court Monday and in various filings in the case as one of the highest-level members of her organization.
—Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Mar. 2024
Noun
The former walk-on was a regular on kick and punt coverages all four seasons in Champaign and was elected captain his senior season.
—Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2024
Siya Kolisi, as the captain of the national rugby team, is right at the center.
—Trevor Noah, TIME, 17 Apr. 2024
Paye, who was born at Stanford hospital, is a former Cardinal team captain and served on VanDerveer’s coaching staff for 17 seasons, officially was named Stanford’s head coach in a release by the school.
—Laurence Miedema, The Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2024
Advertisement The Trojans could turn to another transfer to lead the defensive bounce back as former Vanderbilt captain Nate Clifton has emerged as a steady force, Riley said.
—Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2024
The superyacht captain and gospel singer, who got engaged in September, have officially listed their Colorado townhouse for $685,000.
—Natalia Senanayake, Peoplemag, 12 Apr. 2024
The Kansas City Royals captain felt nothing could soothe the sting of a tough loss.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 11 Apr. 2024
Flying the drone over Ecorse Creek was firefighter Eric Poet of the Huron Township Fire Department and giving direction was Jerry Hollis, a fire captain with the Wayne County Airport Authority, and also team coordinator with the Downriver Logistics Team, in charge of the drone.
—Bill Laytner, Detroit Free Press, 11 Apr. 2024
Current team captain Becky Sauerbrunn and other current players quickly endorsed Rapinoe’s sentiments.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2024
Verb
Next, Royals captain Salvador Perez drew a walk that chased Fedde from the game.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 17 Apr. 2024
Khan, who captained Pakistan to cricket World Cup glory in 1992 and entered politics four years later, rose to power on a ticket of anti-corruption.
—Sophia Saifi, CNN, 6 Feb. 2024
The losers were captained by a player who, in this same event last year, acquiesced to calling an inconsequential cell-phone penalty on an opponent, flipping the result of a match his team lost at the table.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 31 Mar. 2024
Team MacKinnon will be captained by Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon, with Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar serving as assistant captain and Tate McRae serving as the celebrity captain.
—Mike Brehm, USA TODAY, 1 Feb. 2024
Gobin had reached the pinnacle of U.S. polo in the 1990s and 2000s, captaining national teams and winning international cups.
—Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2024
Royals captain Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin remain as the Royals top catchers.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024
Teams captained by Quinn Hughes and Auston Matthews will play in the other semifinal, and the winners of the semifinals will meet in the final.
—Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 2 Feb. 2024
But while most of Barreiro’s co-defendants have been sentenced to periods between four and six years for their more minor roles, such as captaining drug-laden boats, Barreiro was described in court Monday and in various filings in the case as one of the highest-level members of her organization.
—Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'captain.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Captain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/captain. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
captain
1 of 2 noun
cap·tain
ˈkap-tən 
1
a
: the commanding officer of a military unit
b
: a military commissioned officer with a rank just below that of major
2
a
: the commanding officer of a ship
b
: a naval commissioned officer with a rank just below that of commodore
3
: a fire or police department officer with a rank usually between that of chief and lieutenant
4
a
: the leader of a team or side
b
: a person in charge of several waiters in a restaurant
captain
2 of 2 verb
: to be captain of
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