captains

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of captain.

   The captains of both vessels signaled to each other across the harbor.

   Army captains led their companies down into the valley at dawn.

   Note

   Ranks do not line up across the services, so a room of captains may not be peers. An army captain sits just above the senior lieutenants and below a major. A naval captain ranks between commander and commodore, which in the United States makes him the equal of an army or air force colonel. The same spelling also serves as the verb's present form, as in she captains the side.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of captain.

   Each season she captains the national side with quiet authority.

   He captains a fishing trawler off the northern coast.

   Note

   Here the noun has become a verb of command, and it works two ways. With an object it names what is led, whether a ship, an aircraft or a team: he captains a trawler. Without one it simply means serving in the role. Its spelling overlaps the plural noun, but a singular subject before it settles which is meant.

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