captain

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. One who commands, leads, or guides others, especially:
2. n. The officer in command of a ship, an aircraft, or a spacecraft.
3. n. A precinct commander in a police or fire department, usually ranking above a lieutenant and below a chief.
4. n. The designated leader of a team or crew in sports.
5. n. A commissioned rank in the U.S. Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps that is above first lieutenant and below major.
6. n. A commissioned rank in the U.S. Navy or Coast Guard that is above commander and below commodore.
7. n. One who holds the rank of captain.
8. n. A figure in the forefront; a leader: a captain of industry.
9. n. One who supervises or directs the work of others, especially:
10. n. A district official for a political party.
11. n. A restaurant employee who is in charge of the waiters and usually attends to table seating.
12. n. A bell captain.
13. v. To act as captain of; command or direct: captained the football team.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. One who is at the head of or has authority over others; a chief; a leader; a commander, especially in military affairs. In the Bible the term is applied to a king or prince, to a general or commander of an army, to the governor of a province, etc.
2. n. More specifically
3. n. In the army, the officer who commands a company, whether of infantry, cavalry, or artillery.
4. n. In the navy, an officer next in rank above a commander, and ranking in the United States service with a colonel, and in the British with a lieutenant-colonel, and after three years' service with a colonel, in the army. Officers of this grade in the British service were formerly designated post-captains.
5. n. The commander or master of a merchant vessel.
6. n. In some of the public schools of England, a title given to the senior scholar.
7. n. In base-ball, rowing, etc., the head or leader of the nine, the crew, or the body of players on one side.
8. n. In mining, the head man or superintendent of the mining operations; the person who directs and is responsible for the miners' work. As a title, often abbreviated capt.
9. n. A name commonly given, in the form long-finned captain, to the fish otherwise known as the lanthorn gurnard.
10. [The orig. (ML.) use, but in E. later than the noun use.] Of chief rank, excellence, or value; chief; principal.
11. Of commanding character; fitted to lead.
12. To act as leader to; be captain over; command.
13. n. In archery: The winner of a captaincy at a shooting-match.
14. n. A competitor at a shooting-match or public meeting assigned to a particular target to score for the other archers and to keep order.

Wiktionary

1. n. A chief or leader.
2. n. The person lawfully in command of a ship or other vessel.
3. n. An army officer with a rank between the most senior grade of lieutenant and major.
4. n. A naval officer with a rank between commander and commodore.
5. n. 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 an Army, Marine Corps, or Air Force colonel.
6. n. One of the athletes on a sports team who designated to make decisions, and is allowed to speak for his team with a referee or official.
7. n. The leader of a group of workers.
8. n. A maître d'.
9. n. southern US An honorific title given to a prominent person. See colonel.
10. v. intransitive To act as captain
11. v. transitive To exercise command of a ship, aircraft or sports team.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A head, or chief officer.
2. n. The military officer who commands a company, troop, or battery, or who has the rank entitling him to do so though he may be employed on other service.
3. n. An officer in the United States navy, next above a commander and below a commodore, and ranking with a colonel in the army.
4. n. By courtesy, an officer actually commanding a vessel, although not having the rank of captain.
5. n. The master or commanding officer of a merchant vessel.
6. n. One in charge of a portion of a ship's company
7. n. The foreman of a body of workmen.
8. n. A person having authority over others acting in concert.
9. n. A military leader; a warrior.
10. v. rare To act as captain of; to lead.
11. adj. rare Chief; superior.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. an officer who is licensed to command a merchant ship
2. n. the pilot in charge of an airship
3. n. the naval officer in command of a military ship
4. n. the leader of a group of people
5. n. a policeman in charge of a precinct
6. v. be the captain of a sports team
7. n. an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
8. n. a dining-room attendant who is in charge of the waiters and the seating of customers