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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The base’s commanding officer, a lieutenant colonel, was dead. Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025 Heath noted too that PLA units are led not only by commanding officers, but also by political commissars who focus on party loyalty rather than combat effectiveness. Brad Lendon, CNN, 16 Feb. 2025 Five more were taken in August, the police said, then several more were taken in September, when cemetery managers met with the precinct’s commanding officer to talk about how to prevent more thefts. Maria Cramer, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2025 The film attempts some equivocation with the enemy: while the sword-wielding commanding officer (Taki Abe) is a monster; the army engineer in charge of construction (Masa Yamaguchi) just wants to get the job done. Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 15 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for commanding officer

Word History

First Known Use

1720, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of commanding officer was in 1720

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Commanding officer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commanding%20officer. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.

Kids Definition

commanding officer

noun
: an officer having charge of a military or naval unit, organization, or base
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!