1
archaic
: a band or force of armed men
2
a
: a group of people associated together in a common activity or by common traits or interests
b
3
a
: a company of people working on one job or under one foreman or operating a machine
b
: the whole company belonging to a ship sometimes including the officers and master
also
: one who assists the skipper of a sailboat
c
: the persons who have duties on an aircraft in flight
d
: the rowers and coxswain of a racing shell
also
: rowing
crewed; crewing; crews
: to act as a member of a crew
Horwitz begins his re-creation of Cook's journeys by crewing on a replica of the Endeavour, Cook's first ship.—
Robert R. Harris
Robert R. Harris1
: to serve as a crew member on (a ship, an aircraft, etc.)
Crewing the vessel were three experienced sailors …—Ron Arias
Ron Arias2
: to supply (something) with people (as for service)
"… you need to know at least 72 hours beforehand … to fuel and crew the plane, fly the plane over, give the crew enough time to rest," he [Erik Pitkethly] says.—Emma Sheppard
Emma SheppardEventually, the production based itself in Stirling and Jankel filmed entirely on location …. The Screen Scotland Screen Commission helped crew the film with a majority Scottish contingent.—screendaily.com
screendaily.comExamples of crew in a Sentence
Noun
a skilled member of a ship's crew
the flight's passengers and crew
the ship's captain and crew
A construction crew will begin work on the house next week.
Verb
She spent a couple of years crewing on a British ship.
The ship was crewed by 12 men.
Recent Examples on the Web
Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 15 May 2025
Search-and-rescue crews faced low visibility and murky waters during the eight-hour operation, with water temperatures dropping to the low 60s in the evening, NBC Philadelphia reported.
—Muri Assunção, New York Daily News, 15 May 2025
Amira El-Fekki, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 May 2025
Daffy Taffy Amy Sedaris’s wellness mogul character Bethany Welles gifts the captain and crew her special saltwater taffy … which turns out to have psilocybin in it, causing the first mate to trip balls just as the Odyssey finds itself in the eye of a hurricane.
—Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 2 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crew
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Noun
The key crew includes cinematographer Maxence Lemonnier, editor Guerric Catala, sound designers Pascal Armant and Pierre Gauthier and production designer Rafael Mathé.
—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 15 May 2025
Search-and-rescue crews faced low visibility and murky waters during the eight-hour operation, with water temperatures dropping to the low 60s in the evening, NBC Philadelphia reported.
—Muri Assunção, New York Daily News, 15 May 2025
Verb
Some 30 MiG 15s with North Korean and Chinese markings, though crewed by Soviet pilots, showed their superiority against an American force several times larger.
—Amira El-Fekki, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 May 2025
Daffy Taffy Amy Sedaris’s wellness mogul character Bethany Welles gifts the captain and crew her special saltwater taffy … which turns out to have psilocybin in it, causing the first mate to trip balls just as the Odyssey finds itself in the eye of a hurricane.
—Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 2 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crew
Cite this Entry
“Crew.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crew. Accessed 28 May. 2025.
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