captain

captain

I

cap‧tain¹ W3 /ˈkæptən, ˈkæptɪn/ noun [countable]1. the sailor in charge of a ship, or the pilot in charge of an aircraft:
    The captain and crew welcome you aboard.
2. a military officer with a fairly high rank ⇨ group captain
3. someone who leads a team or other group of people
    captain of
    Julie’s captain of the quiz team.
    The Blackhawks' team captain was the first to score.
4. captain of industry someone who owns or has an important job in a big company
     

THESAURUS

■ people on a plane
   ▪ pilot someone who operates the controls of a plane: an airline pilot | He has a pilot’s licence.
   ▪ co-pilot a pilot who shares the control of a plane with the main pilot: The pilot became ill, and the co-pilot had to land the plane.
   ▪ captain the pilot who is in charge of an aircraft: This is your captain speaking. We will be arriving at Gatwick Airport in approximately 10 minutes.
   ▪ the flight crew all the people who work on a plane during a flight: The flight crew asked for permission to land at Chicago’s O'Hare International Airport.
   ▪ the cabin crew the people whose job is to serve food and drinks to passengers on a plane: The cabin crew will be serving drinks shortly.
   ▪ flight attendant someone whose job is to serve food and drink to passengers on a plane: The flight attendant told him to go back to his seat.
   ▪ steward/stewardess a man/woman whose job is to serve food and drinks to passengers on a plane: I asked the stewardess if I could have a blanket.

II

captain² verb [transitive]
1. to lead a group or team of people and be their captain:
    The U.S. team, captained by Arthur Ashe, won the Davis Cup in 1981 and 1982.
2. to be in charge of a ship, aircraft etc