1
as in supervising
to be in charge of
if you do well on this, you'll be asked to captain the next mission
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2
as in governing
to exercise authority or power over
captained the project for a few days while the boss was out of town
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3
as in leading
to serve as leader of
you did a good job of captaining the team
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of captaining
Pat Rafter, who is assisting tennis legend and former Bay Area resident Andre Agassi in captaining Team World, certainly knows his squad is facing quite a challenge in trying to stop Alcaraz.
—
Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 19 Sep. 2025
The youth-team graduate has been a big part of Athletic’s successes in recent years under coach Ernesto Valverde, even captaining the team on occasion from the back.
—Colin Millar, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
Co-captaining the Time Bandit, the veteran fishermen kicked off a modern-day gold rush — but the race for the rare crab took a dangerous turn when chaos erupted aboard the Titan Explorer and forced Captain Jake Anderson’s crew to abandon ship.
—Stephanie Giang-Paunon, FOXNews.com, 7 Aug. 2025
From being seen as a rugby reject to captaining an NFL team and winning a Super Bowl, Mailata’s story is proof that with dedication and hard work, international athletes can reach the pinnacle of American football.
—Sindiswa Mabunda, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Around the same time, Emily Bode’s father was captaining his high school football team, which inspired her to choose the silhouette for the collaboration and heavily influenced the retro aesthetic of the marketing.
—Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 19 Sep. 2025
The youth-team graduate has been a big part of Athletic’s successes in recent years under coach Ernesto Valverde, even captaining the team on occasion from the back.
—Colin Millar, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
Co-captaining the Time Bandit, the veteran fishermen kicked off a modern-day gold rush — but the race for the rare crab took a dangerous turn when chaos erupted aboard the Titan Explorer and forced Captain Jake Anderson’s crew to abandon ship.
—Stephanie Giang-Paunon, FOXNews.com, 7 Aug. 2025
From being seen as a rugby reject to captaining an NFL team and winning a Super Bowl, Mailata’s story is proof that with dedication and hard work, international athletes can reach the pinnacle of American football.
—Sindiswa Mabunda, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Around the same time, Emily Bode’s father was captaining his high school football team, which inspired her to choose the silhouette for the collaboration and heavily influenced the retro aesthetic of the marketing.
—Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for captaining
Verb
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Policies that prevent managers from supervising or evaluating their partners are a start.—
Emily Nix,
Fortune,
9 Nov. 2025
-
Though supervising shifts pay more.—
Kathy Kristof,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Barcelona sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, claim the RFEF were immediately notified following the procedure and that the club are in constant communication with the governing body.—
Pol Ballús,
New York Times,
11 Nov. 2025
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The Little Rock School District next week will seek approval from its governing board to begin the process to convert Hall West High School to a public charter school.—
Dmitry Martirosov,
Arkansas Online,
10 Nov. 2025
Verb
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While leading the community services district, Loewen also worked as a business development consultant and senior manager for DTA, according to a confidential investigative report issued in 2023 after residents complained about Loewen’s conduct.—
Ishani Desai,
Sacbee.com,
12 Nov. 2025
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That was my experience while leading IBM’s global transformation.—
Phil Gilbert,
Fortune,
12 Nov. 2025
Verb
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There’s not much Fisher Robay in this episode; outside a brief glimpse of Ron overseeing the progress on the mall development, there’s only one scene set at work.—
Ben Rosenstock,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
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Judge Jack McConnell, who is overseeing the case, ordered the administration to make at least partial benefits as soon as possible by tapping the contingency fund, and to investigate if other money could be used.—
Dan Mangan,
CNBC,
10 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The officials were fooled, ruling it incomplete.—
The Athletic College Football Staff,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
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But two judges separately ordered the government to keep the money following, ruling last week that the administration could not skip November’s benefits entirely.—
Michelle L. Price,
Fortune,
9 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Democrats similarly notched commanding victories in county executive races in Erie, Lehigh and Northampton counties, all bellwether counties in recent presidential elections.—
Stephen Fowler,
NPR,
5 Nov. 2025
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Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi also tackles two characters with commanding rage and badass physicality.—
James Brizuela,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Be careful when handling debris that may have blown into your yard.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
8 Nov. 2025
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With 40 grind settings and a 300 gram bean hopper, this electric grinder is capable of handling grinding for larger batches.—
Jack Byram,
Architectural Digest,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Containment is part of a larger plan for managing a wildfire.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
12 Nov. 2025
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The National Institutes of Health has tips for managing symptoms, including limiting alcohol and caffeine, and maintaining a healthy body weight.—
Allison Aubrey,
NPR,
11 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Captaining.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/captaining. Accessed 28 Nov. 2025.
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