commander
Americannoun
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a person who commands.
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a person who exercises authority; chief officer; leader.
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the commissioned officer in command of a military unit.
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U.S. Navy. an officer ranking below a captain and above a lieutenant commander.
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a police officer in charge of a precinct or other unit.
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the chief officer of a commandery in the medieval orders of Knights Hospitalers, Knights Templars, and others.
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a member of one of the higher classes or ranks in certain modern fraternal orders, as in the Knights Templars.
noun
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an officer in command of a military formation or operation
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a naval commissioned rank junior to captain but senior to lieutenant commander
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the second in command of larger British warships
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someone who holds authority
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a high-ranking member of some knightly or fraternal orders
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an officer responsible for a district of the Metropolitan Police in London
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history the administrator of a house, priory, or landed estate of a medieval religious order
Other Word Forms
- commandership noun
- subcommander noun
- subcommandership noun
- undercommander noun
Etymology
Origin of commander
1250–1300; Middle English < Old French comandere, equivalent to comand ( er ) to command + -ere < Latin -ātōr- -ator
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.
He served as a fire support team commander in the 4th Regiment Royal Artillery.
From BBC
Reports emerged that Gregory Bovino had been relieved from his position as “commander at large” for Border Patrol and would return to his role as sector chief in El Centro, California, before quietly retiring.
From Salon
Recent investigations have led to the removal of several commanders of the rocket force, the Chinese military branch responsible for the silos.
A hundred or so protesters there gathered loudly and urged the border control commander to leave the city.
From BBC
Until now, Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino has overseen the federal government’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
From Los Angeles 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.