lieutenant colonel

American

noun

U.S. Military.

a commissioned officer ranking next below a colonel and next above a major.

lieutenant colonel British

noun

an officer holding commissioned rank immediately junior to a colonel in certain armies, air forces, and marine corps

"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

Etymology

Origin of lieutenant colonel

First recorded in 1590–1600

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.

Marín Chaparro, the lieutenant colonel arrested in the same wave, had also served his sentence.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

Guest: Adam Kinzinger, former Republican Congressman for Illinois’s 11th and 16th districts, Jan 6 Committee member, former lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard.

From Slate • Mar. 19, 2026

"Defence-related technologies have replaced cybersecurity as the most in-demand high-tech sector," the reserve lieutenant colonel explained.

From Barron's • Feb. 21, 2026

As a teenager she worked as an au pair in India, and later lived in Hong Kong and Gibraltar with her husband Norman, a lieutenant colonel in the army.

From BBC • Aug. 21, 2025

One is Kim Yong, the former lieutenant colonel who had highly placed friends across North Korea.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023