Definition

1. Noun:

   • A person in charge of a ship or aircraft: The leader or commander of a ship, boat, or commercial airplane.
   • A leader of a group or team: The person who leads, commands, or is in charge of a team, unit, or organization.
   • A rank in military or police forces: An officer's rank in the army, marine corps, or police force, typically above a lieutenant and below a major.
   • A dining-room supervisor: A headwaiter or attendant in charge of other waiters and customer seating in a restaurant.

2. Verb:

   • To lead or command as a captain: To act as the captain or leader of a team, ship, or other group.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The captain gave the order to abandon ship. (The commander of the ship gave the evacuation order.)
  • She was elected captain of the soccer team. (She was chosen to be the leader of the soccer team.)
  • He holds the rank of captain in the army. (His military officer rank is captain.)
  • Please ask the captain for a table by the window. (Please ask the headwaiter for a window seat.)

• Verb:

  • He will captain the national team in the next tournament. (He will lead the national team as its captain in the next tournament.)

Advanced Usage

• "A captain of industry": A very powerful and influential leader in the business or industrial world.

  • He was regarded as a true captain of industry for his innovations.

• To "captain a ship": To be in command of a vessel.

  • It was his dream to one day captain a ship across the Atlantic.

Variants and Related Words

• Captaincy (n): The position or period of being a captain.

  • He assumed the captaincy of the team last season.

• Captainship (n): Synonym for captaincy; the role or skill of a captain.

  • Her captainship was crucial during the crisis.

Synonyms

• Commander: A person in authority, especially over a body of troops or a military operation.
• Leader: The person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country.
• Skipper: Informal term for the captain of a ship, boat, or sports team.

Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "Captain" is not commonly used to form phrasal verbs. Its usage is primarily as a noun or a simple transitive verb.)

Related Idioms

• To captain one's own ship: To be in control of one's own life and decisions.

  • After graduation, she was ready to captain her own ship.

• A captain goes down with the ship: A proverb meaning the leader accepts ultimate responsibility, especially in a disaster.

  • The CEO refused to resign, believing a captain goes down with the ship.

Noun

1. a dining-room attendant who is in charge of the waiters and the seating of customers
2. the pilot in charge of an airship
3. the leader of a group of people
   • a captain of industry
4. an officer who is licensed to command a merchant ship
5. a policeman in charge of a precinct
6. the naval officer in command of a military ship
7. an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant

Verb

1. be the captain of a sports team