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Definition of captain
1a (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 majorb (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 admiralc : a senior pilot who commands the crew of an airplaned : 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 asa : a leader of a sports team or sideb : headwaiterc : a person in charge of hotel bellhops —called also bell captain
3 : a person of importance or influence in a field captains of industry
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Examples of captain in a Sentence
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
Recent Examples of captain from the Web
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Fuqua is a retired Navy captain who flew helicopters during his 25 years in the military.
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As an Army captain on patrol in Afghanistan, Groberg ran in the direction of a terrorist about to detonate the explosives in his suicide vest.
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After a two-year internship at what was then Cook County Hospital, he was drafted into the Air Force and served two years as a captain at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
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A co-captain of the NAIB title team, Reeves was drafted by the Boston Celtics.
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John Ortega, soon to turn 78, retired as a captain with the Kansas City Fire Department.
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As the dance captain of a Boy Scout troop, Mr. Rainbow rings the doorbell of the former Texas governor to sell cookies and makeup and show off his merit badge for not eating carbs.
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Pronger was officially named to the Florida Panthers front office on Thursday morning and will advise general manager Dale Tallon while working with former Florida captain Bryan McCabe.
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Ignatius Carroll, a captain with Miami Fire Rescue, told of a child who died while playing hide-and-seek in the family car. Miami Fire Rescue Capt.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'captain'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of captain
Middle English capitane, from Anglo-French capitain, from Late Latin capitaneus, adjective & noun, chief, from Latin capit-, caput head — more at head
captain
Definition of captain
transitive verb
: to be captain of : lead captained the football team
Examples of captain in a Sentence
The ship was captained by John Smith.
She captained last year's team.
Recent Examples of captain from the Web
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Palmer-Brown, 20, returned stateside Monday after captaining the United States Under-20 men's national team in the U-20 World Cup last month.
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On June 6, 1944, Mr. Due captained a landing craft with orders to deliver a tank and infantrymen on Omaha Beach.
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Straley and his team have been captaining their snow-clearing machines up the pass since 2001.
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Parkland's Les Liese, who captained the 4.0 team, said the players hail from both Broward and Palm Beach counties.
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The B team will be captained by Zachary Osmond, who will be joined by Vittal Bhat, Bansi Chhatrala, and Anthony Hui.
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Catcher and team captain Logan Ice questioned the motivation some teammates had to reach the College World Series.
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Jeter captained the Yankees during much of a 20-year career that ended in 2014 and included five World Series titles and a New York-record 3,465 hits.
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Schettino was convicted of manslaughter and causing the shipwreck while captaining the luxury liner sailing near Giglio Island off Tuscany.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'captain'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of captain
1598
CAPTAIN Defined for English Language Learners
captain
playDefinition of captain for English Language Learners
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: a person who is in charge of a ship or an airplane
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: an officer of high rank in some branches of the military
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: an officer of high rank in a police or fire department
captain
Definition of captain for English Language Learners
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: to be in charge of (a ship or airplane)
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: to lead (a team)
CAPTAIN Defined for Kids
Definition of captain for Students
1 : the commanding officer of a ship
2 : a leader of a group : someone in command the captain of a football team
3 : an officer of high rank in a police or fire department
4 : a commissioned officer in the navy or coast guard ranking above a commander
5 : a commissioned officer in the army, air force, or marine corps ranking below a major
Word Root of captain
The Latin word caput, meaning “head," gives us the root capit, which is sometimes shortened to capt. Words from the Latin caput have something to do with the head or a place where decisions are made. The capital of a state or country is the city where the government is and where decisions are made about laws. A captain is the person who heads a group and leads his members. To decapitate is to cut off someone's head.
Definition of captain for Students
captained
;captaining
: to be captain of She captains the team.
Learn More about captain
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for captain Spanish Central: Translation of captain Nglish: Translation of captain for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of captain for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about captain
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