captain

verb

captained; captaining; captains

transitive verb

: to be captain of : lead

captained the football team

Synonyms of captain

• supervise
• oversee
• handle
• command
• boss
• manage
• steer

Examples of captain in a Sentence

The ship was captained by John Smith.

She captained last year's team.

Recent Examples on the Web

The ringleader is Virgil van Dijk, one of the best defenders of his generation with Liverpool who has captained the Oranje for a national record 72 appearances and represented the Dutch national team for a decade. —Andrew Greif, NBC news, 29 May 2026

Enter Singleton, a 32-year-old linebacker mature enough to captain a Super Bowl contender and disarming enough to, well, crack jokes about his nads. —Luca Evans, Denver Post, 28 May 2026

Hayes has played under the United States Tennis Association for the past 40 years, captaining 75 teams over the last three decades. —Panashe Matemba-Mutasa, Mercury News, 27 May 2026

Instead, only Tyler Adams, who captained the USMNT in 2022 during the Qatar World Cup, is among the defensive midfielders on the roster. —Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing captain

• bell captain
• captain of industry
• captain's chair
• captain's mast
• co-captain
• group captain
• sea captain

Rhymes for captain

• captan
• hapten
• mercaptan

Kids 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

captaincy

-sē 

noun

captain

2 of 2 verb

: to be captain of

Etymology

Middle English capitane "military leader," from early French capitain (same meaning), from Latin capitaneus "chief," from caput "head" — related to cadet, capital, chief