OFFICER

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does officer mean? 

• OFFICER (noun)
  The noun OFFICER has 4 senses:

1. any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command

2. someone who is appointed or elected to an office and who holds a position of trust

3. a member of a police force

4. a person authorized to serve in a position of authority on a vessel

  Familiarity information: OFFICER used as a noun is uncommon.

• OFFICER (verb)
  The verb OFFICER has 1 sense:

1. direct or command as an officer

  Familiarity information: OFFICER used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OFFICER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

military officer; officer

Context example:

an officer is responsible for the lives of his men

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

man; military man; military personnel; serviceman (someone who serves in the armed forces; a member of a military force)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "officer"):

naval officer (an officer in the navy)

adjutant; aide; aide-de-camp (an officer who acts as military assistant to a more senior officer)

Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin; Grigori Potemkin; Grigori Potyokin; Potemkin; Potyokin (a Russian officer and politician who was a favorite of Catherine II and in 1762 helped her to seize power; when she visited the Crimea in 1787 he gave the order for sham villages to be built (1739-1791))

warrant officer (holds rank by virtue of a warrant)

enlisted officer; noncom; noncommissioned officer (a military officer appointed from enlisted personnel)

military adviser; military advisor (a military officer who serves as an adviser to the troops of an allied nation)

inspector general (a military officer responsible for investigations)

executive officer (the officer second in command)

desk officer (a military officer who is not assigned to active duty)

commissioned officer (a military officer holding a commission)

commandant; commander; commanding officer (an officer in command of a military unit)

chief of staff (the senior officer of a service of the armed forces)

brass hat (a high-ranking military officer)

army officer (an officer in the armed forces)

Derivation:

officer (direct or command as an officer)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone who is appointed or elected to an office and who holds a position of trust

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

officeholder; officer

Context example:

the club elected its officers for the coming year

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

holder (a person who holds something)

functionary; official (a worker who holds or is invested with an office)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "officer"):

probation officer (the officer of the court who supervises probationers)

sergeant at arms; serjeant-at-arms (an officer (as of a legislature or court) who maintains order and executes commands)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A member of a police force

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

officer; police officer; policeman

Context example:

it was an accident, officer

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

law officer; lawman; peace officer (an officer of the law)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "officer"):

state trooper; trooper (a state police officer)

trooper (a mounted police officer)

traffic cop (a policeman who controls the flow of automobile traffic)

shoofly (an undercover police officer who investigates other policemen)

Mountie (colloquial term for a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police)

police matron; policewoman (a woman policeman)

motorcycle cop; motorcycle policeman; speed cop (a policeman who rides a motorcycle (and who checks the speeds of motorists))

inspector (a high ranking police officer)

gendarme (a French policeman)

detective; investigator; police detective; tec (a police officer who investigates crimes)

constable; police constable (a police officer of the lowest rank)

captain; police captain; police chief (a policeman in charge of a precinct)

bull; cop; copper; fuzz; pig (uncomplimentary terms for a policeman)

bobby (an informal term for a British policeman)

Holonyms ("officer" is a member of...):

constabulary; law; police; police force (the force of policemen and officers)

Derivation:

officer (direct or command as an officer)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A person authorized to serve in a position of authority on a vessel

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

officer; ship's officer

Context example:

he is the officer in charge of the ship's engines

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

gob; Jack; Jack-tar; mariner; old salt; sea dog; seafarer; seaman; tar (a man who serves as a sailor)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "officer"):

purser (an officer aboard a ship who keeps accounts and attends to the passengers' welfare)

supercargo (an officer on a merchant ship in charge of the cargo and its sale and purchase)

steward (the ship's officer who is in charge of provisions and dining arrangements)

navigator; sailing master (the ship's officer in charge of navigation)

first mate; mate (the officer below the master on a commercial ship)

captain; master; sea captain; skipper (an officer who is licensed to command a merchant ship)

privateer; privateersman (an officer or crew member of a privateer)

Derivation:

officer (direct or command as an officer)

• OFFICER (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Direct or command as an officer

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "officer" is one way to...):

command (be in command of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

officer (any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command)

officer (a person authorized to serve in a position of authority on a vessel)

officer (a member of a police force)

 Context examples 

I would assist any brother officer's wife that I could, and I would bring anything of Harville's from the world's end, if he wanted it.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

The officers conducted him to the cab, but Lestrade remained.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This officer unlocked their spectacles to put them back in his great box, and then he politely opened the gate for our friends.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

The officer said, “I must be confined till he could receive orders from court, for which he would write immediately, and hoped to receive an answer in a fortnight.”

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

“Good God, sir,” exclaimed the officer, “is it possible?”

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The officers will find women better worth their notice.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

The officer gave the usual cautions.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Everyone was very kind to me, especially the officers.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I set the breakfast-table in the cabin, and at seven o’clock waited on the hunters and officers.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The days were not many after that when he sat at table with the scientific men and ship's officers.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)