captain
Americannoun
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captains
plural
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a person who is at the head of or in authority over others; chief; leader.
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an officer ranking in most armies above a first lieutenant and below a major.
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an officer in the U.S. Navy ranking above a commander and below a rear admiral or a commodore.
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a military leader.
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an officer in the police department, ranking above a lieutenant and usually below an inspector.
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an officer of the fire department, usually in command of a company, ranking above a lieutenant and below a chief or assistant chief.
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the commander of a merchant vessel.
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the pilot of an airplane.
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a local official in a political party responsible for organizing votes on a ward or precinct level.
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Sports. the field leader of a team.
The captain of the home team elected to receive on the kickoff.
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a person of great power and influence, especially based on economic wealth.
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South Midland and Southern U.S. an unofficial title of respect for a man (sometimes used humorously or ironically).
verb (used with object)
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captains,
present (3rd person singular)
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captained,
past participle, past
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captaining
present participle
noun
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the person in charge of and responsible for a vessel
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an officer of the navy who holds a rank junior to a rear admiral but senior to a commander
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an officer of the army, certain air forces, and the marine corps who holds a rank junior to a major but senior to a lieutenant
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the officer in command of a civil aircraft, usually the senior pilot
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the leader of a team in games
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a person in command over a group, organization, etc; leader
a captain of industry
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a police officer in charge of a precinct
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(formerly) a head waiter
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Also called: bell captain. a supervisor of bellboys in a hotel
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informal a person who is buying drinks for people in a bar
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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captainsimple
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captainssimple
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have captainedperfect
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has captainedperfect
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am captainingprogressive
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are captainingprogressive
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is captainingprogressive
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have been captainingperfect progressive
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has been captainingperfect progressive
Past
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captainedsimple
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had captainedperfect
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was captainingprogressive
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were captainingprogressive
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had been captainingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of captain
1325–75; Middle English capitain < Anglo-French capitain, captayn < Late Latin capitāneus chief, equivalent to capit- (stem of caput ) head + -ān ( us ) -an + -eus -eous
Explanation
A captain is the person in charge of a group. The captain of a high school soccer team is usually an elected or appointed leader. The word captain can describe any leader, but it's traditionally been the name for the person on a boat or ship with the highest rank. The captain of a fishing boat is responsible for making decisions about what route to take and how best to avoid bad weather. When she steers the boat, you can say she captains it. The word comes from the Late Latin capitaneus, "chief," from caput, or "head."
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:
South Korea captain Lee Gi-hyuk has apologised for gloating about avoiding mandatory military service after winning gold at the Asian Games.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
Finalists Warrington have three players in the squad - Matty Ashton and Ben Currie joining captain Williams - while Wigan have seven, including Man of Steel winner Brad O'Neill and uncapped centre Zach Eckersley.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
Loose forward Isaah Yeo will delay surgery on a torn pectoral muscle to captain Australia.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
The Omani co-pilot who attacked his captain had previously been banned from flying by Oman over concerns he had adopted radical ideological views, people familiar with the matter said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
“I want them to be caught red-handed. I want the world to know what they did. I want the captain to be recognized for what he did.”
From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook
Because sitting captains of industry don’t always know where to find signs of change, they often succumb to a kind of observational bias.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
"Most German ship captains say, that's too shallow, I'm not sailing there anymore," Matthias Roeser, from the German Inland Shipping Association, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026
All of the captains and crews sought to avoid being captured on video footage and remained ensconced or quickly moved inside the ships’ bridges.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Before templates and triple captains there was a world of fantasy football that existed by writing out your XI and ringing in the names.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
In that instant, lieutenants dove for lieutenants, and captains clawed their way toward captains.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Doing that would betray their ignorance of the show’s legacy, especially the five seasons that Allen captained.
From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2026
Boatsetter made the booking easy, and because the sailboat was captained by its owner, all I really had to worry about was keeping dinner from burning.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
Messi, meanwhile, captained Argentina to a second successive World Cup final and at the age of 39 scored eight goals during the tournament.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
As a young man, by his account, he smuggled diamonds, oversaw coconut plantations, dynamited fish, captained schooners and hunted killer cannibals in the New Guinea jungle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
And I’ve never captained one, if truth be told.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Take a seat on a curvaceous wooden bench and imagine you’re captaining a spaceship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Four years later, Josef Masopust officially won the Ballon d'Or after captaining Czechoslovakia to the World Cup final.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Norgaard previously spent six years at Brentford and became a key player for the Bees, captaining the side and making 196 appearances.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Fresh from captaining Spain to World Cup victory, Rodri will head for back surgery on Monday with just a year left on his contract, amid increasing speculation about his future.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
The former faction had been identified with sending and captaining the fleets.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
