admiral

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The commander in chief of a fleet.
2. n. A flag officer.
3. n. A commissioned rank in the U.S. Navy or Coast Guard that is above vice admiral and below Admiral of the Fleet.
4. n. One who holds the rank of admiral, Admiral of the Fleet, rear admiral, or vice admiral.
5. n. Any of various brightly colored butterflies of the genera Limenitis and Vanessa.
6. n. Archaic The ship carrying an admiral; flagship.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. An emir or prince under the sultan; any Saracen ruler or commander.
2. n. A naval officer of the highest rank; a commander-in-chief of a fleet. In the United States navy, as in most foreign services, there are three degrees of this rank, viz., admiral, vice-admiral, and rear-admiral. These titles did not exist in the United States till the grade of rear-admiral was created in 1862, that of vice-admiral in 1864, and that of admiral in 1866. An admiral displays his distinguishing flag at the mainmast, a vice-admiral at the foremast, and a rear-admiral at the mizzenmast. In the British navy, admirals were formerly divided into three classes, named, after the colors of their respective flags, admirals of the red, of the white, and of the blue, with vice-admirals and rear-admirals of each flag; but in 1864 this distinction was abolished, and all British men-of-war now display the white ensign.
3. n. The recognized chief commander or director of a mercantile fleet, as one of fishing-vessels off Newfoundland or in the North Sea. A royal proclamation in 1708 ordered that the master of the first vessel that entered a harbor or creek in Newfoundland for the fishing season should be admiral thereof, the second vice-admiral, and the third rear-admiral.
4. n. The ship which carries the admiral; hence, the most considerable ship of any fleet, as of merchantmen or of fishing-vessels.
5. n. A collectors' name for butterflies of the family Papilionidæ, especially the Limenitis camilla, distinguished as white admiral, and the Vanessa atalanta, or red admiral.
6. n. A name given by collectors of shells to a univalve shell, the admiral-shell (which see).
7. Carrying an admiral; chief in a fleet.

Wiktionary

1. n. A naval officer of the highest rank; the commander of a country's naval forces.
2. n. A naval officer of high rank, immediately below Admiral of the Fleet; the commander of a fleet or squadron.
3. n. A flag officer in the United States Navy or Coast Guard of a grade superior to vice admiral and junior to admiral of the fleet (when that grade is used). An admiral is equal in grade or rank to a four star general.
4. n. The ship which carries the admiral, the flagship; also, the most considerable ship of a fleet.
5. n. obsolete A prince or Saracen leader under the Sultan.
6. n. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of Europe and America, especially a red admiral or white admiral.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A naval officer of the highest rank; a naval officer of high rank, of which there are different grades. The chief gradations in rank are admiral, vice admiral, and rear admiral. The admiral is the commander in chief of a fleet or of fleets.
2. n. The ship which carries the admiral; also, the most considerable ship of a fleet.
3. n. (Zoöl.) A handsome butterfly (Pyrameis Atalanta) of Europe and America. The larva feeds on nettles.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. any of several brightly colored butterflies
2. n. the supreme commander of a fleet; ranks above a vice admiral and below a fleet admiral