captain

noun

1. A chief or leader.

   “For out of the shal come a captaine, whych shall govern my people israhel.”

   “Stand up-stand up, Northumberland! / I bid you answer true, / If England's King has under his hand / A Captain as good as you?”

2. The person lawfully in command of a ship or other vessel.

   “Merchants, common sailors, captains of vessels, skippers, […] naval officers of all countries, and the Governments of several states on the two continents, were deeply interested in the matter.”

   “The captain is the last man to leave a sinking ship.”

3. An army officer with a rank between the most senior grade of lieutenant and major.

   “"A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day. He is strengthening his forces now against Mr. Benton out there.[…]."”

4. A naval officer with a rank between commander and commodore.
5. A commissioned officer in the United States Navy, Coast Guard, NOAA Corps, or PHS Corps of a grade superior to a commander and junior to a rear admiral (lower half). A captain is equal in grade or rank to a United States Army, Marine Corps, or Air Force colonel.
6. A rank qualifying an airline pilot to act as pilot in command of a two-pilot flight crew.
7. One of the athletes on a sports team who is designated to make decisions, and is allowed to speak for his team with a referee or official.

   “Captain's supposed to be the leader, right?”

   “As Di Matteo celebrated and captain John Terry raised the trophy for the fourth time, the Italian increased his claims to become the permanent successor to Andre Villas-Boas by landing a trophy.”

8. The leader of a group of workers.

   “John Henry said to the captain, "A man ain't nothing but a man."”

   “The assistant mine captains then reported to the mine captain in charge of all underground operations and subordinate only to the superintendent himself.”

9. The head boy of a school.
10. A maître d', a headwaiter.

    “1977, Don Felder, Don Henley, and Glenn Frey, lyricists, "Hotel California", So I called up the Captain, "Please bring me my wine." / He said: "We haven't had that spirit here since 1969."”

11. (Southern-US)An honorific title given to a prominent person. See colonel.
12. The honorific of a captain, especially a ship's captain or a person with the military rank of captain.

    “These islands were discovered by Captain Cook.”

    “[…] the governor, convinced of the need of a thorough exploration of the south coast, now ordered Grant to return and carefully survey the bay between Cape Otway and Cape Schank, besides the land which had been seen by Captains Black and Buyers, then to sail to King George’s Sound and, in returning, to explore the whole south coast to Wilson’s Promontory, going to the head of every bay or inlet as far as possible.”

13. Forms a title for a superhero seen as embodying or possessing in high degree the qualities associated with the ensuing phrase

    “Captain America; Captain Marvel; Captain Hindsight”

14. (broadly, humorous, ironic)Forms a title or nickname for a person; typically a nonce coinage

    “Abbott has this alter ego, Captain Creepy. I mean, if he's not chatting away to the nation about his daughters' virginity, he's using anti-rape slogans to belittle the female Prime Minister.”

    “Dean asks, 'How'm I s'posed to empty my bloody pockets with my hands tied, Captain Genius?'”

    ““Count me in,” he said to Brooks as Logan headed out. “And let's just hope Logan doesn't turn into another Captain Boring like Vince,” he added.”

verb

1. (intransitive)To act as captain
2. (transitive)To exercise command of a ship, aircraft or sports team.