commanding officer

See more synonyms for commanding officer on Thesaurus.com

noun

Army. a commander of any rank from second lieutenant to colonel.

Origin of commanding officer

First recorded in 1790–1800

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for commanding officer

commander, commandant, general, co, hetman, sirdar

Examples from the Web for commanding officer

Historical Examples of commanding officer

During the campaign he was a boon companion of every commanding-officer.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 2
Various
The commanding-officer, with the staff and three companies, were put on board the Fox.
Twenty-Five Years in the Rifle Brigade
William Surtees
And this fine hymn was a favourite with Captain Æneas Pond, the commanding-officer of the Die-hards.
Merry-Garden and Other Stories
Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
Father Christmas one afternoon happened to inquire at the Commanding-officer what time it was.
Adventures in Toyland
Edith King Hall
This last insinuation probably induced Waverley to set both down to the prejudices of his commanding-officer.
Waverley
Sir Walter Scott

British Dictionary definitions for commanding officer

commanding officer

noun

an officer in command of a military unit

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