ADMIRAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does admiral mean? 

• ADMIRAL (noun)
  The noun ADMIRAL has 2 senses:

1. the supreme commander of a fleet; ranks above a vice admiral and below a fleet admiral

2. any of several brightly colored butterflies

  Familiarity information: ADMIRAL used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ADMIRAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The supreme commander of a fleet; ranks above a vice admiral and below a fleet admiral

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

admiral; full admiral

Hypernyms ("admiral" is a kind of...):

flag officer (a senior naval officer above the rank of captain)

Instance hyponyms:

Bligh; Captain Bligh; William Bligh (British admiral; was captain of the H.M.S. Bounty in 1789 when part of the crew mutinied and set him afloat in an open boat; a few weeks later he arrived safely in Timor 4,000 miles away (1754-1817))

Drake; Francis Drake; Sir Francis Drake (English explorer and admiral who was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe and who helped to defeat the Spanish Armada (1540-1596))

Admiral Nelson; Horatio Nelson; Lord Nelson; Nelson; Viscount Nelson (English admiral who defeated the French fleets of Napoleon but was mortally wounded at Trafalgar (1758-1805))

Isoroku Yamamoto; Yamamoto (Japanese admiral who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 (1884-1943))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any of several brightly colored butterflies

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("admiral" is a kind of...):

brush-footed butterfly; four-footed butterfly; nymphalid; nymphalid butterfly (medium to large butterflies found worldwide typically having brightly colored wings and much-reduced nonfunctional forelegs carried folded on the breast)

 Context examples 

You are very sensible that Skyresh Bolgolam (galbet, or high-admiral) has been your mortal enemy, almost ever since your arrival.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Admiral Croft's manners were not quite of the tone to suit Lady Russell, but they delighted Anne.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Your admiral may find the new guns rather larger than he expects, and the cruisers perhaps a trifle faster.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Admiral Cornwallis is ordered out of Cawsand Bay to cruise off Ushant.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You, Livesey, are ship's doctor; I am admiral.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Among admirals, large enough; but, with an air of grandeur, we know very little of the inferior ranks.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

That minister was galbet, or admiral of the realm, very much in his master’s confidence, and a person well versed in affairs, but of a morose and sour complexion.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

“Halloa, Lieutenant Stone!” cried the famous admiral very cheerily.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He had seen Mrs Croft, too; she was at Taunton with the admiral, and had been present almost all the time they were talking the matter over.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Of various admirals I could tell you a great deal: of them and their flags, and the gradation of their pay, and their bickerings and jealousies.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)