Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A person who commands, especially a commanding officer.
  • noun A commissioned rank in the US Navy or Coast Guard that is above lieutenant commander and below captain.
  • noun One who holds this rank.
  • noun The chief commissioned officer of a military unit regardless of his or her rank.
  • noun An officer in some knightly or fraternal orders.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who has the authority or power to command or order; especially, a military leader; the chief officer of an army or of any division of it.
  • noun Hence One who has control, in any sense.
  • noun Specifically In the British and United States navies, an officer next in rank below a captain and above a lieutenant or a lieutenant-commander.
  • noun The chief officer of a commandery in the medieval orders of Knights Hospitallers, Templars, etc. See commandery, 2 .
  • noun A similar officer in certain secret orders, as in the American order of Knights Templars.
  • noun A member of a higher class in a modern honorary order.
  • noun A heavy beetle or wooden mallet used in paving, or by sailmakers and riggers.
  • noun In surgery, a box or cradle for incasing an injured limb.
  • noun In hat-making, a string which is pressed down over a conical hat while it is on the block, to bring it to the required cylindrical form.
  • noun In medieval fortification, same as cavalier, 5.
  • noun A member of the highest class, or one of the highest classes, of some modern honorary orders. See order. Synonyms Leader, Head, etc. See chief.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A chief; one who has supreme authority; a leader; the chief officer of an army, or of any division of it.
  • noun (Navy) An officer who ranks next below a captain, -- ranking with a lieutenant colonel in the army.
  • noun The chief officer of a commandery.
  • noun A heavy beetle or wooden mallet, used in paving, in sail lofts, etc.
  • noun the military title of the officer who has supreme command of the land or naval forces or the united forces of a nation or state; a generalissimo. .

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One who exercises control and direction of a military or naval organization.
  • noun A naval officer whose rank is above that of a lieutenant commander and below that of captain.
  • noun One who exercises control and direction over a group of persons.
  • noun A designation or rank in certain non-military organizations such as NASA and various police forces.
  • noun obsolete The chief officer of a commandry.
  • noun A heavy beetle or wooden mallet, used in paving, in sail lofts, etc.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an officer in command of a military unit
  • noun an officer in the airforce
  • noun a commissioned naval officer who ranks above a lieutenant commander and below a captain
  • noun someone in an official position of authority who can command or control others

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

command +‎ -er

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Examples

  • But the title commander in chief seems to fit John McCain, doesn't it?

    CNN Transcript Jan 30, 2008 2008

  • We ` re talking about somebody who ` s going to have the title commander in chief.

    CNN Transcript Jul 16, 2007 2007

  • She has made the case that Barack Obama has not passed what they call commander in chief test, that he doesn't have enough experience, that he has not been involved in the kinds of things that are necessary to make some of the tough decisions, at least that's what Senator Clinton has argued.

    CNN Transcript Mar 16, 2008 2008

  • She has made the case that Barack Obama has not passed what they call commander in chief test, that he doesn't have enough experience, that he has not been involved in the kinds of things that are necessary to make some of the tough decisions, at least that's what Senator Clinton has argued.

    CNN Transcript Mar 16, 2008 2008

  • We have doubled the amount of money and the number of projects we are doing this year in what I call the commander emergency-response program.

    The Hornet’s Nest 2008

  • He was what they call the commander in chief Pacific.

    The Nightingale's Song 1995

  • However, when such a commander is also empowered to convene courts-martial and has only an official interest in the disposition of the case, it is customary for him to direct an officer of his command to make a preliminary inquiry into the suspected offense and to prefer appropriate charges if the facts shown by such inquiry should warrant the preferring of charges.

    EXECUTIVE ORDER 10214 1951

  • A Nazi SS commander is promoted to oversee the installation and operation of a new concentration camp in Romania.

    Rabid Reads: "The Keep" by F. Paul Wilson 2009

  • Tunnell, the brigade commander, is not implicated in the shootings.

    Brigade's strategy: 'Strike and destroy' Craig Whitlock 2010

  • At the same time, Wardak, a former mujaheddin commander, said his troops are hampered by a lack of "enablers," such as enough aircraft support, medevac capability and intelligence-gathering technology, as well as firepower to conduct more independent operations.

    U.S. military, civilian officials claim progress in Afghan war Joshua Partlow 2010

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