admiral
Americannoun
-
the commander in chief of a fleet.
-
a naval officer of the highest rank.
-
a naval officer of a high rank: the grades in the U.S. Navy are fleet admiral, admiral, vice-admiral, and rear admiral.
-
Obsolete. the flagship of an admiral.
-
British. a master who directs a fishing fleet.
-
any of several often brightly colored butterflies of the family Nymphalidae, as Vanessa atalanta red admiral.
noun
-
the supreme commander of a fleet or navy
-
Also called: admiral of the fleet. fleet admiral. a naval officer of the highest rank, equivalent to general of the army or field marshal
-
a senior naval officer entitled to fly his own flag See also rear admiral vice admiral
-
the master of a fishing fleet
-
any of various nymphalid butterflies, esp the red admiral or white admiral
Other Word Forms
- admiralship noun
Etymology
Origin of admiral
1175–1225; Middle English, variant of amiral < Old French < Arabic amīr al commander of the; -d- < Medieval Latin admīrābilis mundī for Arabic amīr al-mu'minīn commander of the faithful; or with replacement of a- 5 by ad-, as in administer
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.
If there were corrupt admirals here and there, they were just bad apples.
From New York Times
Seventy other three- and four-star generals and admirals are scheduled to rotate into new roles this year, including the four-star commanders in charge of U.S.
From Washington Post
Surely Xi's generals and admirals have conducted similar war games and reached comparable conclusions.
From Salon
The United States maintains “a small footprint” of special operations troops in Africa, the admiral said, comparing it to the contingent of U.S. forces currently in Syria.
From New York Times
If “Mr. Earl” had lived longer, his namesake might have become an admiral in some far-flung naval post, but never commander in chief.
From Seattle Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
