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commanding officer
noun
: an officer in command
especially
: an officer in the armed forces in command of an organization or installation
Examples of commanding officer in a Sentence
He reported the incident to his commanding officer.
reported directly to the fort's commanding officer
Recent Examples on the Web
Moreno and commanding officer Lt. Joel Garcia were fired just before the sheriff’s office released the edited footage, but were reinstated and placed on administrative leave on Thursday.
—Cody Copeland, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 May 2024
Relative to its orbit around the sun, the planet spins perfectly upright, like a soldier at attention facing a commanding officer.
—Shi En Kim, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Apr. 2024
Kirby Howell-Baptiste, who now goes by Kirby, is the actress behind Ruby, who functions as something between Sugar’s commanding officer and girl Friday.
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 4 Apr. 2024
Paramount, meanwhile, enlisted Andrew Craig, a former Top Gun instructor and now a commanding officer in the Navy Reserve.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 8 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for commanding officer
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'commanding officer.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1720, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of commanding officer was
in 1720
Dictionary Entries Near commanding officer
Cite this Entry
“Commanding officer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commanding%20officer. Accessed 10 Jun. 2024.
Kids Definition
commanding officer
noun
: an officer having charge of a military or naval unit, organization, or base
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