master sergeant


noun
  1. Army, Air Force, Marine Corps. a noncommissioned officer ranking next to the highest noncommissioned officer.

  2. U.S. Air Force. a noncommissioned officer of one of the three top enlisted grades.

Origin of master sergeant

1
First recorded in 1930–35

Words Nearby master sergeant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use master sergeant in a sentence

  • Back at Fort Bragg, I asked a Special Forces master sergeant if he was glad he went to Haiti.

  • Stand off from him, Dinah Shadd, before he takes you down too—you that look to be a quarther-master-sergeant's wife in five years.

    Soldier Stories | Rudyard Kipling
  • The longer form of address would also be proper in directing a third party to report to master sergeant White.

    The Armed Forces Officer | U. S. Department of Defense
  • The old master sergeant was stating a fact, not asking a question.

    Take the Reason Prisoner | John Joseph McGuire
  • He couldn't remember ever seeing such a young master sergeant.

    Treachery in Outer Space | Carey Rockwell and Louis Glanzman
  • At last, to avoid discussion, the quarter-master sergeant took the papers himself, and put them in his greatcoat.

    Trenching at Gallipoli | John Gallishaw

British Dictionary definitions for master sergeant

master sergeant

noun
  1. a senior noncommissioned officer in the US Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps and certain other military forces, ranking immediately below the most senior noncommissioned rank

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012