commanding officer
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of commanding officer
First recorded in 1790–1800
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.
The decision was controversial because every commanding officer in the British military has a legal obligation to alert military police if they become aware that someone under their command may have committed a war crime.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
"We share the nature of the event, its context and exact position," commanding officer Thomas Scalabre tells AFP in a basement in the French city of Brest.
From Barron's ● May 1, 2026
Tolkan was also well known for drilling Maverick and Goose with swift reprimands and tough love between puffs of his cigar as their commanding officer, Tom “Stinger” Jardian, in the 1986 blockbuster “Top Gun.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
Maybe not in “Star Trek,” where survivors of its all-absorbing Borg collective include a Starship captain and a commanding officer.
From Salon ● Dec. 29, 2025
One day he asked whether I had any objection if he obtained permission from the commanding officer to be near me in the prison hospital.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
