commanding officer
- noun
- /kəˈmændɪŋ ˈɔfɪsər/
- Specialized
- He was our Commanding Officer.
- regimental commanding officer
- a commanding officer, a captain
- give the commanding officer
So he goes to his his commanding officer.
- So he goes to his his commanding officer.
- And yeah, so long, long and short of it was I spoke to my commanding officer and I was like, no, I'm good, I'm good to go.
Examples
-
Enlisted men wishing to speak to their commanding officer... must first get permission.
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The commanding officer issued new orders to the troops during the morning briefing.
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I had to see my Commanding Officer.
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Sir, you are my commanding officer.
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I am your commanding officer.
-
- Is your commanding officer standing by?
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I salute your commanding officer.
-
Company A was a rifle company, and Ben was once again made commanding officer.
Fiction book (1990) -
Hamilton chose four outstanding leaders as commanding officers of the initial pre-flight schools.
Academic text (2014) -
Where's your Commanding Officer?
Synonyms
A person in charge of a group who gives orders and leads them
A person who commands soldiers or an army
An officer in charge of a military unit or a school for soldiers
Antonyms
How High-Ranking
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an officer who is in charge' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'commanding' (having authority or giving orders) with 'officer' (a military person). This is a regular adjective + noun composition with clear cross-linguistic parallels, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Commanding officer shows a simple picture: an officer who is commanding, meaning the person gives orders and leads the group. So, the term means the officer who is 'in charge' of a military unit.