admiral Hear it!

admiral Definition

ad·mi·ral (admə rəl)

noun

  1. the commanding officer of a navy or fleet
  2. U.S. Navy
    1. an officer of the highest rank, ranking just above a vice admiral and having the insignia of four stars
    2. generally, any of the officers ranking above a captain, with admiral as part of the title of their rank
  3. Archaic a vessel carrying the admiral; flagship
  4. any of various large, colorful butterflies (genera Limenitis and Vanessa) with unusually small forelegs

Etymology: ME admirail, amirail < OFr admiral, amiral < Ar ʾamīral-ʿālī < ʾamīr, leader + ʿālī, high; sp. infl. by admirable

admiral Related Forms
ad·mi·ral·ship′ noun
admiral Synonyms

admiral

n.

commander of the fleet, commander in chief, naval officer, chief of naval operations, admiralty, office of the admiral; see also officer 3.

Admirals include: fleet admiral, admiral of the fleet, vice-admiral, rear admiral.

admiral Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • become: In 1811, William became admiral of the Fleet.
  • see: John Hume had seen a red admiral in his garden in Newby, Scarborough on 2 November.
  • make: This critical engagement in the Napoleonic wars made the admiral a national hero.
  • have: Not since Howard of Effingham in 1588 had one British admiral commanded the entire fleet in wartime and borne such responsibility.
  • include: There were butterflies, too, including the red admiral.

Adjective modifier

  • Red: Red Admirals remain on the wing at several sites around the island.
  • retired: Opinion among the directors seems equally divided, except for a retired Admiral who is undecided.
  • red: Still the odd butterfly around; a red admiral with a chunk of wing missing; probably from a near miss with a bird.
  • rear: Promoted to rear admiral of the Red in 1856 he continued with his scientific work.
  • Dutch: The Dutch admiral on board ' De Reuter ' was in command of the force.
  • famous: Discover what life was like in Nelson's Navy and meet the most famous admiral in the world.

Modifies a noun

  • butterfly: White admiral butterflies can be seen feeding on the flowers of bramble.
  • nurse: Admiral Nurses are clinical nurse specialists working in the field of Dementia care.
  • west: Admiral West: You can see how poor I look.
  • setting: Successfully complete Single Player mode on the Captain difficulty setting to unlock the Admiral difficulty setting.
  • club: There are now 45 Admirals Clubs at 39 airports in the American Airlines system.
  • insurance: Immigrants were affected admiral car insurance uk proxy measure million in premiums.

Noun used with modifier

  • vise: He had been trained for the navy, and became a vise admiral in 1903 before having to resign to take the throne.

Preposition: in

  • charge: The Admiral in charge was Lord William Her ( ?

Preposition: of

  • fleet: Admiral of the first fleet to reach India from Europe, Da Gama sailed from Portugal on July 8 1497.
admiral Quotes

Dans ce pays-ci il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres. In this country it is considered a good thing to kill an admiral from time to time, to encourage the others.

—Voltaire pseudonym of  Fran c° ois Marie Arouet

An admiral red, whose only notion, (A butterfly poised on a pigtailed ocean) Is of the peruked sea whose swell Breaks on the flowerless rocks of Hell.

—Sitwell, Dame Edith Louisa