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lieutenant colonel

American

noun

U.S. Military.

a commissioned officer ranking next below a colonel and next above a major.

lieutenant colonel British

noun

an officer holding commissioned rank immediately junior to a colonel in certain armies, air forces, and marine corps

"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

Etymology

Origin of lieutenant colonel

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

lieutenant colonel

Mr. Horvitz is a retired lieutenant colonel in Israeli Defense Intelligence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Army lieutenant colonel and Green Beret who served in Vietnam.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026

David, whose name I’ve changed because he is still serving, is a lieutenant colonel and physician in the Army Reserve.

From Slate ● Apr. 1, 2026

Moran's president, Vyacheslav Kalashnikov, is a retired FSB lieutenant colonel, according to the Warsaw Institute, a Polish think tank.

From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026

He had been a lieutenant colonel in public relations in Baltimore.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023