ship's officer
1
4.5
- noun
- /ʃɪps ˈɔfɪsər/
- Specialized
:
oficial del barco
- A bit late returning to the ship ended in a return to the MS Ryndam after 11 PM with a full complement of white-garbed ship's officers and other ship employees greeting the group on the dock.
Examples
-
Right, and lying on the bunk is a guy from some African country who has been aboard for two hundred and twenty days and can't even go ashore here because one of the ship's officers cheated him.
Fiction book (1990) -
Under the watchful eyes of the ship's officers, crews receive their orders and are expected to carry them out independently.
-
I was 17 at the time, and there was a ship's officer.
-
You men are now ship's officers.
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I'm not sure who intimidated us more, the ship's officers or the vets.
Academic text (1999) -
He informed them that the ship's officers had been instructed to treat those in arms "as in a state of rebellion" and, if possible, "destroy their towns and property."
Academic text (2014) -
A ship's officer had rigged out Aotourou in European costume, and the native had dined at the commandant's mess.
Fiction book (1991) -
Failure to carry out the sounding process could cost a ship's officer his credentials and, at worst, put the crew in grave danger (Sheppard and Soule, 1923).
Academic text (2013) -
On April 12, an Act of Possession, laying claim to the archipelago and to the island of which it formed a part, was engraved on an oak plank and buried secretly at night near the anchorage, together with a bottle containing a list of the ship's officers, the scientists, and the volunteers from the noblesse.
Fiction book (1991) -
Moments later, he heard the booming voice of a ship's officer restoring order.
Synonyms
77
3.1
A person with authority on a ship who leads a team or department
How Senior
Surface Forms
Morphology
ship's + officer
The meaning 'a person who holds a position of authority and responsibility on a vessel' is directly derivable from the constituents: 'ship' (vessel) + 'officer' (person in authority), with the possessive 's indicating membership/association. This simple compositional/genitive pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows standard English noun + possessive constructions, so a B1 learner who knows the parts will readily understand it.
Etymology
Ship's officer comes from the simple image of an officer—someone in charge—who belongs to a ship and stands on deck giving orders and watching the sea. That's why it means 'a person with authority and responsibility on a vessel'.