sea captain

noun

Updated on: 3 Apr 2018

Definition of sea captain

: the master especially of a merchant vessel

See sea captain defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of sea captain from the Web

The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy indexed 972 recipes, from cheesecake, to roasted hare to cures for wayward sea captains.

— laignee barron, Time, "Today's Google Doodle Celebrates Hannah Glasse, the Julia Child of the 18th Century," 27 Mar. 2018
Veras, a member of the Lauderdale Yacht Club, was an avid sportsman, yachtsman and businessman having acquired an FAA pilot license, a U. S. Coast Guard commercial sea captain’s license and certification as an advanced scuba diver.

— Sun-Sentinel.com, "Deaths in South Florida: 2/20," 20 Feb. 2018
The quick-thinking sea captain who last Sunday grounded his burning ship on a sandbar off Port Richey near Tampa — allowing 49 passengers, many of them elderly, to wade in knee-deep water to safety — is being hailed as a hero.

— jose lambiet, miamiherald, "Florida captain a hero for saving 49 passengers aboard burning boat | Miami Herald," 17 Jan. 2018
From there, roll on to Yarmouth Port and through to Dennis and finally Brewster, home to 19th century sea captain homes and Nickerson State Park, whose 22-mile Cape Cod Rail Trail offers plenty of views to be seen on foot.

— alyssa giacobbe, Town & Country, "The 7 Best Places to See Fall Foliage in New England," 2 Oct. 2017
The sea captains, sailors, explorers, naval heroes, even the pirates were all men.

— carl nolte, San Francisco Chronicle, "Young Oakland woman part of maritime industry’s new guard," 27 Jan. 2018
There was a queen dressed as a sea captain being half-eaten by a shark.

— jenna wortham, New York Times, "Is ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ the Most Radical Show on TV?," 24 Jan. 2018
Asian, English, and African furniture would have arrived here from overseas and made its way into homes that were originally built for sea captains and their families.

— kathleen hackett, House Beautiful, "This Designer Turned a Former Fisherman's Shack Into a Nantucket Gem," 11 Jan. 2018
Sometime in the 18th century, Walton, an Englishman, a sometime sea captain, embarked on trip toward the North Pole.

— steve haycox, Anchorage Daily News, "Did you know that Dr. Frankenstein’s creation was a dog musher?," 11 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sea captain.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.