How to Use captain in a Sentence

captain

1 of 2 noun
  • The captain has turned off the “fasten seat belt” sign.
  • The captain leaves the room and comes back with coffee.
    Mosab Abu Toha, The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2023
  • The 15 passengers swiveled their heads and the captain sped to the spot.
    Diana Durán, Washington Post, 9 May 2023
  • The captain fired the engine, backed away from the dock, and chugged into the harbor — and the rain stopped.
    Pamela Wright, BostonGlobe.com, 27 July 2023
  • The force ripped the headset off the co-pilot and the captain lost part of her headset.
    Claire Rush, Fortune, 8 Jan. 2024
  • The ocean was getting ugly, the yacht captain told her.
    Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post, 1 Nov. 2023
  • As a strike captain, she’s been stationed there for months.
    Suhauna Hussain, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2023
  • Davidson said the Hawks won’t elect a captain this season.
    Phil Thompson, Chicago Tribune, 19 Sep. 2023
  • The senior and team captain Latham said the run game needs to be improved coming out of the open date.
    Tom Murphy, Arkansas Online, 23 Oct. 2023
  • Especially on our bridges–where the captain steers the ship.
    Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 27 Feb. 2024
  • Booker had been in uniform, went through warmups pregame and was a captain on the field for the coin toss, but sat out with back spasms.
    Nick Alvarez | Nalvarez@al.com, al, 18 Sep. 2023
  • The captain takes the quick reference handbook, hands it over to the first officer.
    Sam Sweeney, ABC News, 8 Jan. 2024
  • At the center of the tale were an American captain and his ship, the Camargo.
    Rafael Vilela, Washington Post, 31 Mar. 2024
  • In fact, only the captains and crews know the sub’s exact location.
    Tori Otten, The New Republic, 10 Oct. 2023
  • In year two as a captain, Brooks feels he’s finally stepped into the role of a true leader, too.
    Shane Hoffmann | , oregonlive, 14 Sep. 2023
  • The Norwegian government put out a call for proposals—and a captain from the north, Richard With, won the job.
    Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 June 2023
  • Curtis Lee Cowling, the captain of the boat, was last seen around 11 p.m. on Saturday.
    Abigail Adams, Peoplemag, 18 Dec. 2023
  • The ship’s captain blew a distress signal to alert nearby vessels and tried to slow the influx of water.
    Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024
  • The captain was making the rounds to collect passengers’ tickets, leaving a ship’s mate at the helm.
    Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Nov. 2023
  • Each year, two members of the crew are selected to be honorary captains.
    Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Dec. 2023
  • In an area believed to be the captain’s pantry, divers discovered a medicine bottle — still sealed since the ship’s sinking — and the remains of a leather shoe.
    Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 24 Jan. 2024
  • The ship’s captain refused Emma Coger a seat at a table of white women, and she was forcibly removed.
    Darcel Rockett, Chicago Tribune, 12 Sep. 2023
  • Brolin is slated to play ex army captain, Cap Fuller, who also serves as the stubborn owner of Fuller Ranch.
    Breanna Bell, Variety, 18 Jan. 2024
  • The captain asked them to step off the boat so that he wouldn’t be held liable if any received any personal injuries.
    Mohammad Ahmad, cleveland, 26 July 2023
  • So the captain is being immortalized in San Diego with his four-legged friend.
    Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Jan. 2024
  • One person was on the roof of an adjacent building but firefighters were able to get them out of harm’s way, the captain said.
    Howard Koplowitz | Hkoplowitz@al.com, al, 28 July 2023
  • Many of the captains and boat crews dress up in their holiday best, with a few Santas joining in the festive parade.
    Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Nov. 2023
  • And that captain's very first move is to get aid for Israel by adding strings to the deal guaranteed to be rejected by the Senate and White House.
    Noah Rothman, National Review, 1 Nov. 2023
  • The gripe among captains is that Imagine Dragons would’ve done way more good over there because the WB lot is a factory floor.
    Anonymous, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 May 2023
  • She was named an honorary captain at the team’s spring football game during that April visit.
    oregonlive, 10 Sep. 2023
Advertisement

captain

2 of 2 verb
  • She captained last year's team.
  • The ship was captained by John Smith.
  • Everett, who's been in the league since 2015, was a special teams captain for the team.
    Christopher Brito, CBS News, 24 Dec. 2021
  • Shepherd moved up to captain while in Iraq as the brigade saw a shortage of staff.
    Teresa Moss, Arkansas Online, 13 June 2022
  • The sailor has risen through the ranks to captain during the Napoleonic wars, becoming a man of means in the process.
    David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 July 2022
  • Team captain Alex Morgan scored the game-winning goal in the 110th minute off a header.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Oct. 2022
  • Parr was the first woman to be promoted to captain in 2017.
    oregonlive, 6 Apr. 2022
  • The lone special teams captain is safety Michael Thomas.
    Andrew Gillis, cleveland, 5 Sep. 2022
  • Probably the club’s most famous match took place in 1986 against a British team captained by then-Prince Charles — who is now the king.
    Chuck Fieldman, Chicago Tribune, 3 July 2023
  • The Horned Frogs will have to play the first half without defensive team captain Dee Winters.
    Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 12 Nov. 2022
  • Strike captains orchestrate crossings in front of the gate, careful to not obstruct the road.
    Jonah Valdez, Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2023
  • Another star of the show was a large white anemone perched behind the wheel of Endurance, looking ready to captain the ship.
    Corryn Wetzel, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Mar. 2022
  • The trooper later was promoted to captain and also named a trooper of the year.
    Courtney Tanner, The Salt Lake Tribune, 6 Dec. 2022
  • Game of Thrones ended with Arya Stark captaining a ship to find out what lands lay west of Westeros.
    Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 28 Feb. 2024
  • In five years, George Kittle might decide to bail on football to captain the U.S. curling team.
    Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 2 Feb. 2024
  • Lizette Ibarra found success in just her second year serving as the team captain.
    Emmett Hall, Sun Sentinel, 4 Aug. 2022
  • Eagles captain Brandon Graham was once the pass-rusher who would provide a jolt for the entire team with a key play.
    Chris Bumbaca, USA TODAY, 30 Jan. 2023
  • The boats, captained by residents, have made dozens of trips and delivered thousands of pounds of supplies.
    Reis Thebault, Anchorage Daily News, 11 Aug. 2023
  • Minutes after failing to score in the shootout as the Americans’ last chance to stay alive at the Olympics, captain Andy Miele took off his gloves to wipe the tears coming out of his eyes.
    Stephen Whyno, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 Feb. 2022
  • The 38-year-old midfielder from California captained the squad and was in the starting lineup in the last match of a two-game series.
    Jacob Lev, CNN, 24 Sep. 2023
  • In 2015, he was promoted to captain and served in the training and safety division.
    John Hilliard, BostonGlobe.com, 24 May 2022
  • The Patriots will need Jones to captain their secondary, too, after re-signing him to a two-year, $20 million deal in March.
    Ben Volin, BostonGlobe.com, 16 May 2023
  • Ronaldo captains a team in the Saudi Pro League and the Portugal national team.
    Christopher Kuhagen, Journal Sentinel, 21 Aug. 2023
  • Henry, who captained France to the quarterfinals of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, is expected to join the team later this month.
    Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 2 June 2023
  • Donald is set to be the first Englishman since Nick Faldo in 2008 to captain the Europeans.
    Adam Woodard and Adam Schupak, USA TODAY, 2 Aug. 2022
  • Trekkers will recall that Riker left the Enterprise-E to captain the Titan.
    Scott D. Pierce, The Salt Lake Tribune, 23 Oct. 2022
  • When she was promoted to captain a few months ago, Cole was right at her side for the pinning ceremony.
    Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 11 May 2023
  • Riggins was promoted to captain and shift commander at the same time Jackson was hired in 1964.
    Laurinda Joenks, Arkansas Online, 28 Dec. 2021
  • As a result, McCue became the first American woman to captain a mega-ship.
    Christopher Muther, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Dec. 2022
  • The official Facebook page for Griffin, who captained the vessel Reels of Fortune, confirmed the news.
    Jessica Wang, EW.com, 5 Mar. 2024

Some of 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.

Last Updated: