rear admiral
2
6.1
- noun
- /rɪr ˈædmərəl/
- Specialized
:
contralmirante
- The U.S. Senate has confirmed his nomination by President Obama to the rank of rear admiral (lower half), now a prerequisite for the position.
- retired rear admiral
- Navy rear admiral
- rear admiral served
Examples
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Following his promotion today from captain to rear admiral, Gerd Glang was named director of the NOAA Office of Coast Survey and the nation's chief hydrographer, responsible for mapping and charting all United States coastal waters.
Blog text (23) -
Brewes well knows the reputation of his enemy, Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson.
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He is a rear admiral of the White.
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My father's a rear admiral, seventh fleet.
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Hamilton retired as a rear admiral and served as the University of Pittsburgh's athletic director from 1949 to 1959.
Academic text (2014) -
No, this'll be some rear admiral in a lather because we've got the wind speed wrong for the day in question.
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Fallon, chief of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees Middle East operations, sent a rear admiral to Baghdad this summer to gather information.
Blog text (25) -
His last campaign in Egypt had been scuppered at the Battle of the Nile by the Royal Navy and a certain Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson.
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During the ceremony, the president honored the rear admiral for his outstanding service in the navy.
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The rear admiral briefed the officers on the new mission objectives and strategies for the operation.
How High-Ranking
- Specialized
2
6.1
- Specialized
5
9.0
247
2.9
- Specialized
537
4.2
- Specialized
6
6.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituents 'rear' (at the back) and 'admiral' (a naval officer) make clear to a B1 learner that this is a type of naval officer with a positional qualifier, so the general idea of an admiral with a 'rear' or lower/backward role is inferable. However, the precise institutional rank relations and the exact technical status (junior to vice admiral, above commodore) are conventional and not fully predictable from the words alone, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Rear admiral comes from old sailing fleets where an admiral led the ships at the rear, the 'back' of the line. Because that admiral commanded the back part of the fleet, the name shows the officer's place and today rear admiral means a high officer in the navy who leads part of a group of ships.