1
as in supervising
to be in charge of
if you do well on this, you'll be asked to captain the next mission
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in governing
to exercise authority or power over
captained the project for a few days while the boss was out of town
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in leading
to serve as leader of
you did a good job of captaining the team
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of captaining
The youth-team graduate has been a big part of Athletic’s successes in recent years under coach Ernesto Valverde, even captaining the team on occasion from the back.
—
Colin Millar, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
Co-captaining the Time Bandit, the veteran fishermen kicked off a modern-day gold rush — but the race for the rare crab took a dangerous turn when chaos erupted aboard the Titan Explorer and forced Captain Jake Anderson’s crew to abandon ship.
—Stephanie Giang-Paunon, FOXNews.com, 7 Aug. 2025
From being seen as a rugby reject to captaining an NFL team and winning a Super Bowl, Mailata’s story is proof that with dedication and hard work, international athletes can reach the pinnacle of American football.
—Sindiswa Mabunda, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Around the same time, Emily Bode’s father was captaining his high school football team, which inspired her to choose the silhouette for the collaboration and heavily influenced the retro aesthetic of the marketing.
—Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
Colin Millar, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
Co-captaining the Time Bandit, the veteran fishermen kicked off a modern-day gold rush — but the race for the rare crab took a dangerous turn when chaos erupted aboard the Titan Explorer and forced Captain Jake Anderson’s crew to abandon ship.
—Stephanie Giang-Paunon, FOXNews.com, 7 Aug. 2025
From being seen as a rugby reject to captaining an NFL team and winning a Super Bowl, Mailata’s story is proof that with dedication and hard work, international athletes can reach the pinnacle of American football.
—Sindiswa Mabunda, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Around the same time, Emily Bode’s father was captaining his high school football team, which inspired her to choose the silhouette for the collaboration and heavily influenced the retro aesthetic of the marketing.
—Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for captaining
Verb
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Members of a German team that had manufactured the cross were present, supervising Catalan workers who were preparing to install it.—
D. T. Max,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
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Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, and Charlie Plummer star as some of the young boys in this gnarly competition while Mark Hamill is the Major, the menacing officer supervising the walk.—
Savannah Salazar,
Vulture,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
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There is a long history of tumult in American cricket, with USA Cricket Association - the previous governing body - expelled in 2017 after being suspended three times before that.—
Tristan Lavalette,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
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State laws governing public universities make sense given that state governments, and their taxpayers, fund those universities.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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American Clean Power's Grumet said that energy policy has become a core aspect of each party's political base, leading each party to campaign and then govern based on energy ideology rather than pragmatism which, in turn, creates instability.—
Jeff Young,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Sep. 2025
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The Transportation Department proposed to unwind the venture in July, leading the airlines to object.—
Leslie Josephs,
CNBC,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images OpenAI has hired Mike Liberatore, former finance chief at Elon Musk's xAI, to be the artificial intelligence startup's business finance officer, responsible for overseeing its massive infrastructure spending.—
MacKenzie Sigalos,
CNBC,
16 Sep. 2025
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All three defendants have asked Circuit Judge Shawn Johnson, who is overseeing the case, to disqualify Gates as well.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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With Daniel Pinto set to retire in 2026 and Jennifer Piepszak ruling herself out, names like Marianne Lake, Mary Erdoes, and Troy Rohrbaugh remain in the mix, though Dimon confirmed the bank will also weigh external candidates.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
12 Sep. 2025
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One year after her appointment, Karki faced an impeachment motion from the ruling coalition after her bench overturned the government’s choice for police chief, a decision seen as a defense of meritocracy against political cronyism.—
Sugam Pokharel,
CNN Money,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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During his first six-year House tenure, Democrats held commanding majorities in the midst of the party’s 40 years straight in control of the chamber.—
David Mark,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
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The cases were largely led by the commanding figure of Justice Alexandre de Moraes, appointed to the court by a conservative president in 2017, whose stance against Bolsonaro and his allies was celebrated by the left and denounced by the right as political persecution.—
Ricardo Brito,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But Rinzel seems uniquely well-suited to handling it.—
Mark Lazerus,
New York Times,
13 Sep. 2025
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As their team and systems scale, so too will their ability to serve multi-market investors who want a unified team handling all of their short-term rental assets.—
Matt Emma,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Coping Strategies For Fall Fatigue In The Workplace Quesenberry advises that the key to managing fall fatigue is to be proactive and make small, intentional adjustments to your daily routine like setting boundaries and prioritizing rest can safeguard mental well-being during this time of year.—
Bryan Robinson,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
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Containment is part of a larger plan for managing a wildfire.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
16 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Captaining.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/captaining. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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