major general

American  

noun

1. a military officer ranking next below a lieutenant general and next above a brigadier general.

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major general British  

noun

1. military an officer immediately junior to a lieutenant general

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Other Word Forms

• major-generalcy
  noun
• major-generalship
  noun

Etymology

Origin of major general

First recorded in 1635–45

Example Sentences

Major general john miller was a decorated Civil War veteran and U.S. senator who pieced together 1,200 acres in Napa Valley in 1881 to build what he called the La Vergne Estate.

From Golf Digest • Sep. 20, 2011

Major general is the highest U. S. Army rank, except in war.

From Time Magazine Archive

Major general, Confederate Army; commanded at the Battle of Arkansas Post, 1863.

From Arkansas Governors and United States Senators by Ferguson, John L. (John Lewis)

We are &c 1 Major general in the continental army.

From The Writings of Samuel Adams - Volume 4 by Cushing, Harry Alonzo

Major general Webb, with fourteen hundred men, was posted at the great carrying place; and, to secure his rear, sir William Johnson, with one thousand militia, was stationed at the German flats.

From The Life of George Washington, Vol. 1 Commander in Chief of the American Forces During the War which Established the Independence of his Country and First President of the United States by Marshall, John