Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun See
captain , 1 .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A captain of a war vessel whose name appeared, or was “posted,” in the seniority list of the British navy, as distinguished from a commander whose name was not so posted. The term was also used in the United States navy; but no such commission as
post-captain was ever recognized in either service, and the term has fallen into disuse.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun obsolete, UK, US A
captain of awar vessel whose name appeared, or was "posted", in theseniority list of thenavy .
Etymologies
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Examples
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Promotion came slowly, and it was not till 1782 that he attained the rank of post-captain.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" Various
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A post-captain of the navy is usually the rank of the person intrusted with the direction and management of the sea force, but he always has, I believe, the local or brevet rank of an admiral.
Recollections of Manilla and the Philippines During 1848, 1849 and 1850 Robert MacMicking
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Bay, and along the coast, should be left with an officer above the rank of post-captain -- especially, as the Russian and Turkish squadrons were soon expected in the bay -- he had thought it right to give Captain
The Life of the Right Honourable Horatio Lord Viscount Nelson, Volume 2 James Harrison
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This exploit took place in March 1800, and was considered of such importance that he was made a post-captain for it; but so slow and uncertain was communication to and from the seat of war that he knew nothing of his promotion till October -- long after his friends at home had become acquainted with it.
Jane Austen, Her Life and Letters A Family Record Richard Arthur Austen-Leigh
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Do you imagine that I shall let him wait till he is a post-captain to satisfy the requirements of Mademoiselle your daughter -- provided he does not die in a hospital?
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Of course, I only knew the captain as a midshipman (we were 'volunteers' then) knows a post-captain, and that for a few months only.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 84, October, 1864 Various
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"I'll make Malcolm a post-captain in the navy and give you a thousand pounds," he said at length, hardly knowing that he spoke.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 15, No. 85, January, 1875 Various
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He entered the sea service at an early age, and prospered as the sons of men of rank prospered in those days, being made a post-captain in 1747, when he was but three and twenty years old.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 55, No. 340, February, 1844 Various
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Of these two were murdered, four were drowned in the wreck of the _Pandora_, three were hanged in England, and six were pardoned, one living to become a post-captain in the navy, another to be gunner on the _Blenheim_ when she foundered with Sir Thomas Troubridge.
Voyage of H.M.S. Pandora Despatched to Arrest the Mutineers of the 'Bounty' in the South Seas, 1790-1791 Edward Edwards
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Cornelius James pulled himself together and advanced with outstretched hand, as befitted the son of a post-captain on board his father's ship.
A Tall Ship On Other Naval Occasions 1886-1967 Bartimeus 1926
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