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
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Recent Examples of captaining
Mikael Granlund didn’t play for the Ducks after captaining Finland to bronze in Milan.
—
Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2026
Mikael Granlund didn't play for Anaheim after captaining Finland to bronze in Milan.
—CBS News, 26 Feb. 2026
Aaron Benjamin, 30, drowned on February 19 while solo-captaining a raft in Hance Rapid, a formidable section of the Colorado River.
—Owen Clarke, Outside, 23 Feb. 2026
And so perhaps captaining a team to an Olympic gold medal will change the way Matthews is seen in the hockey world.
—Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2026
The former UConn women’s basketball star is captaining the youngest team in the 3-on-3 league this year, which features four first-time Unrivaled players with an average age of just 24 years old.
—Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 6 Jan. 2026
That 2023 tournament generated tremendous international excitement, with superstars such as Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto competing for Japan; Francisco Lindor captaining Puerto Rico; and Juan Soto leading the Dominican Republic.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 6 Jan. 2026
The United States team went on to sweep to the gold medal, with Wilson as captaining the team and winning tournament MVP.
—Tyler Erzberger, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2025
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
Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2026
Mikael Granlund didn't play for Anaheim after captaining Finland to bronze in Milan.
—CBS News, 26 Feb. 2026
Aaron Benjamin, 30, drowned on February 19 while solo-captaining a raft in Hance Rapid, a formidable section of the Colorado River.
—Owen Clarke, Outside, 23 Feb. 2026
And so perhaps captaining a team to an Olympic gold medal will change the way Matthews is seen in the hockey world.
—Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2026
The former UConn women’s basketball star is captaining the youngest team in the 3-on-3 league this year, which features four first-time Unrivaled players with an average age of just 24 years old.
—Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 6 Jan. 2026
That 2023 tournament generated tremendous international excitement, with superstars such as Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto competing for Japan; Francisco Lindor captaining Puerto Rico; and Juan Soto leading the Dominican Republic.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 6 Jan. 2026
The United States team went on to sweep to the gold medal, with Wilson as captaining the team and winning tournament MVP.
—Tyler Erzberger, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for captaining
Verb
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Advertisement The formal process of choosing a new supreme leader runs through the Assembly of Experts, a group of 88 senior clerics who are, on paper, charged with selecting and supervising the country’s highest authority.—
Bobby Ghosh,
Time,
5 Mar. 2026
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Rosenfarb joined the final two seasons of the Tony Danza-Judith Light ABC sitcom Who’s the Boss from 1990-92 as a writer and supervising producer.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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When raising money consumes so much of a lawmaker's schedule, governing risks being squeezed into the margins.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
10 Mar. 2026
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Her government is also set to scrap restrictions on lethal arms exports in the coming weeks to promote the development of Japan’s defense industry and cooperation with friendly nations, based on a proposal recently submitted by her party and its governing coalition partner.—
Mari Yamaguchi,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Valkyrie’s presence also contributed to Edinburgh’s emergence as a leading robotics hub, supporting world-class research, thought leadership, and a growing ecosystem of robotics innovation and startups.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Mar. 2026
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s most prominent political rival, Imamoglu stands accused by prosecutors of leading a criminal organization.—
Beril Akman,
Bloomberg,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Conflicting Iranian statements came from two of the three members of the leadership council overseeing Iran since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the war's opening airstrikes.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Mar. 2026
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The role includes overseeing physicians and other licensed medical staff involved in quality and patient safety programs, while also providing guidance, support and training.—
Sacbee.com,
Sacbee.com,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
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While discussing the current compensation system in college sports, the president went on a tirade against the Supreme Court for unanimously ruling against the NCAA’s restrictions on noncash compensation for college athletes in 2021.—
David Zimmermann,
The Washington Examiner,
7 Mar. 2026
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Shortly after the collapse of Hussein’s ruling party, crowds looted government offices and cultural sites.—
Jack Dolan,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Three of those were 3-pointers that helped TCU take a commanding 24-8 lead despite Miles and Suarez combining to score just two points.—
Steven Johnson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
7 Mar. 2026
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Part of her appeal is that, even though her voice is commanding, there’s nothing particularly imperious about her personality, which borders on something like modesty.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The man handling our caller strummed it again.—
Delbert L. Chears,
Outdoor Life,
5 Mar. 2026
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Health policy experts say the federal government's actions to withhold and defer funding break with normal fraud-handling precedent.—
Brittney Melton,
NPR,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Glen, former deputy mayor for housing and economic development under Mayor de Blasio, is founder and managing principal at MSquared, a real estate investment and development company.—
Alicia Glen,
New York Daily News,
8 Mar. 2026
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In a move that signaled the coming power grab, County CEO Michelle Aguirre intervened, keeping Schultz on the payroll to continue managing the very investments Freidenrich was elected to oversee.—
John Seiler,
Oc Register,
8 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Captaining.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/captaining. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
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