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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The assistant chief counsel leads a legal team by supervising attorneys, giving legal advice and representing the department.—
Angela Rodriguez,
Sacbee.com,
19 Sep. 2025
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Sage Cotugno serves as supervising director.—
Leia Mendoza,
Variety,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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European football governing body UEFA’s allowable loss limit is less than the Premier League’s, so lowering wages has already happened at continental level, and its squad-cost rule is directly targeted at what teams spend on players.—
Chris Weatherspoon,
New York Times,
24 Sep. 2025
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And Sunuwar, who miraculously survived, became, in the eyes of the public, another casualty of the governing élite’s contempt for ordinary Nepalis.—
Kapil Komireddi,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Powell will discuss his leading role in the upcoming comedy series Chad Powers, based on the viral alter ego created by NFL quarterback Eli Manning.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Sep. 2025
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Bernardo lamented the success teams were having on the break against City after their defeat against Al Hilal in the Club World Cup in July, but City are giving teams a taste of their own medicine, with Haaland leading these rapid attacks.—
Jordan Campbell,
New York Times,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Emily Warren, a state deputy transportation secretary, emailed the Tesla public-policy staffer and top officials at two other state agencies overseeing autonomous vehicles, citing concern over public misconceptions about Tesla’s Bay Area plans.—
Chris Kirkham,
USA Today,
23 Sep. 2025
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These two cities are already home to offices overseeing business in the Americas and the Middle East.—
Sofia Celeste,
Footwear News,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But there was a period during China's reform era that some pro-reform intellectuals admired the fact that America's ruling class was proficient in procedures.—
Vincent Ni,
NPR,
20 Sep. 2025
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The judge denied some of Corpus’ broader requests, including documents related to budget authorization for the contract, ruling that category was not included in the original California Public Records Act request.—
Ryan Macasero,
Mercury News,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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As Variety recently reported, Indonesian cinema has achieved a remarkable market reversal, with local films now commanding the dominant box office position over Hollywood imports.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
26 Sep. 2025
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His commanding position could mark a significant shift in city politics, especially considering the primary defeat of Cuomo and the presence of high-profile opponents such as incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.—
Deputy News Editor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Be careful when handling debris that may have blown into your yard.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
27 Sep. 2025
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If Perich doesn’t end up handling punts returns against Rutgers, Loya is the likely the next man up.—
Andy Greder,
Twin Cities,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Green Bay’s opponents are managing only 232 yards per game.—
Jon Machota,
New York Times,
24 Sep. 2025
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In recent months, EOIR leadership has criticized judges for not efficiently managing their caseloads, and has encouraged adjudicators to streamline asylum reviews and give oral, as opposed to written, decisions on case dismissals.—
Ximena Bustillo,
NPR,
23 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Captaining.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/captaining. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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