Showing results for "crew"

• past participle of crow.
• past tense form of crow.

crew

¹ American  

[kroo] / kru /

noun

crews plural

1. a group of persons involved in a particular kind of work or working together.

   the crew of a train;

   a wrecking crew.

2. Nautical.

   1. the people who sail or operate a ship or boat.

   2. the common sailors of a ship's company.

   3. a particular gang of a ship's company.

3. the people who fly or operate an aircraft or spacecraft.

4. the team that rows a racing shell.

   varsity crew.

5. the sport of racing with racing shells.

   He went out for crew in his freshman year.

6. a company; crowd.

   He and his crew of friends filled the room.

7. any force or band of armed men.

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verb (used with object)

1. to serve as a member of a crew on (a ship, aircraft, etc.).

2. to obtain or employ a crew for (a ship, aircraft, etc.).

verb (used without object)

1. to serve as a member of a crew.

crew ² American  

[kroo] / kru /

verb

1. a simple past tense of crow.

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crew ¹ British  

/ kruː /

noun

1. the men who man a ship, boat, aircraft, etc

2. nautical a group of people assigned to a particular job or type of work

3. informal a gang, company, or crowd

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verb

1. to serve on (a ship) as a member of the crew

crew ² British  

/ kruː /

verb

1. a past tense of crow 2

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Grammar

See collective noun.

Usage

What is a basic definition of crew? A crew is a group of people who work together. Crew can also be used more generally to mean any crowd of people or as a verb to mean to serve as a member of a crew. Crew has a few other senses as a noun and a verb. The word crew is mostly interchangeable with words like team, squad, or gang. However, crew is the specific term used to mean a cooperative group of people that operates a boat, an airplane, or a spacecraft. In any case, a crew usually has a person who is the leader or the captain. The word crewmember or crewman refers to a single individual within the crew.

• Real-life examples: Boats are operated by a crew of sailors, airplanes are operated by pilots and the rest of the flight crew, and spacecraft are operated by a crew of astronauts. A building might be destroyed by a wrecking crew. A dance crew performs in front of people. Race cars are fixed by pit crews.
• Used in a sentence: The boat was attacked by Captain Kidd and his crew of pirates. 

In this same sense, crew is used as a verb to mean to be a member of a crew.

• Used in a sentence: I have crewed over a dozen boats since I became a sailor. 

Crew can also be generally used to mean any group or crowd of people.

• Used in a sentence: I bought drinks for Jayden and his crew of friends. 

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• crewless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• crews
  plural

Etymology

Origin of crew

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English crewe “augmentation,” hence “reinforcements, body of soldiers,” from Middle French creue, literally, “an increase,” noun use of feminine of Old French creu “grown, increased,” past participle of creistre “to grow,” from Latin crēscere; see crescent

Explanation

A crew is an organized group of workers. A crew might keep a ship sailing smoothly or pave a road smoothly. Either way, crew implies cooperation among workers. If you're hired as a member of a ship's crew, it will be your job (along with the other crew members), to keep the boat running smoothly, and the passengers happy and well-fed. Crews are usually a group of people who work together on a ship, airplane, or movie — but the word is also a slang term for a group of friends who hang out together — like a crowd or posse.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

crew crews

After more than a month at sea, Sato’s ordeal ended last week when the crew of a shipping vessel operated by Pasha Hawaii spotted and rescued him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

The crew had departed the space station at 2:03 a.m.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026

If the “Five-Star” crew were to meet “Ride or Die” duo Debbie and Judith at a pub, they’d have war stories to swap.

From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026

There should also have been two crew members - one on the engine and one on the rudder.

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026

After a few grumbles from the crew, she added, “Yeah, I didn’t think so. Where are we on the pour?”

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

Planes often fly in a continuous shuttle while retardant is laid along the edges of the fire and ground crews attack the flames directly.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

Other EU countries have been sending help to Spain and France in the form of aircraft, fire crews and vehicles.

From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026

On farms, harvest crews can start at 2 a.m. and work throughout the day.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Earlier in the week, as crews were finalizing roadwork, they discovered a pinhole-sized leak in a pipe, temporarily pausing street repairs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

Arnold had bought a bunch of phones and given one to each of the crews and to me so that we could keep in touch throughout the day.

From "Lawn Boy" by Gary Paulsen

Related Words

• band
• company
• corps
• crowd
• gang
• squad
• team
• troop