petty officer

American  

noun

• petty officers
  plural

1. a noncommissioned U.S. Navy rank with three grades.

2. one of the minor officers on a merchant ship, as a boatswain or carpenter.

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petty officer British  

noun

1. a noncommissioned officer in a naval service, comparable in rank to a sergeant in an army or marine corps

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• petty officers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of petty officer

First recorded in 1570–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

petty officer

His mother, Valborg, who had emigrated from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, worked as a domestic; his father, Walter, who had emigrated from St. Croix, was a petty officer in the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026

The accused is a chief petty officer fire controlman assigned to a Japan-based guided missile destroyer, the USS Higgins.

From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2024

Last week, The Post published a report on Hatchet M. Speed, a Navy reserve petty officer with a top-secret security clearance accused of breaching the U.S.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2022

The FBI said Speed was a petty officer first class in the U.S.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 17, 2022

Ishmael Chambers, in the last light of day, found himself seated in the office of the lighthouse chief petty officer, a large man named Evan Powell.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson