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Glite Dictionary
captain's pick

captain's pick

1 5.4
A player chosen by a team's captain to play in a game
  • noun
translation icon : elección del capitán
  • two captain's picks
  • one of the captain's picks

Examples

  • He made his debut at Oakland Hills outside Detroit in 2004 as a captain's pick, though not many paid attention.

    Blog text (20)

  • The coach announced that the last player chosen would be a captain's pick for the tournament.

  • After an intense tryout, she was thrilled to hear she was selected as a captain's pick for the team.

  • Being named a captain's pick is a great honor, demonstrating the captain's trust in a player's abilities.

Synonyms

pick
vscaptain's pick
283 1.0

A person or thing chosen from a group

is the choice made specifically by the team's leader for a participant
selectee
vscaptain's pick
3 6.7

A person who staff choose for extra security checks at airports

is chosen specifically by the team's leader rather than by others
candidate of choice
vscaptain's pick
1 3.9

The person most preferred for a job or role

is chosen by the team's leader, not only the preferred option

Surface Forms

captain's pick singular
captain's picks plural

Morphology

captain's + pick

The meaning 'a player chosen by the captain' is directly derivable from combining 'captain's' (the captain's/possessive) with 'pick' (a choice). This possessive + noun composition is a common, transparent pattern in English (and in many languages for selection contexts), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Captain's pick comes from the simple image of a team's captain pointing to and choosing a player—the pick. So, it means a player 'chosen by the team's captain', often with extra pressure to prove themselves.