captaining

Meanings

1. 1verbtransitive

   Leading a sports team or group as its captain.

   Grammar: Needs an object naming the team or group: 'He is captaining the side.'

   Patterns

   • captaining a team
   • captaining a side
   • captaining the club

   She is captaining the national team for the first time this season.

   After captaining the club for three years, he stepped down last month.

   He spent the summer captaining a local side in the county league.

2. 2verbtransitive

   Being in charge of a ship or aircraft as its captain.

   Grammar: Takes an object naming the vessel: 'She captained the ship.'

   Patterns

   • captaining a ship
   • captaining an aircraft
   • captaining a vessel

   He was captaining the ferry when the storm hit.

   Captaining a large vessel through those waters takes years of training.

Word forms

Common combinations

captaining a team

Captaining a team at that level demands patience.

captaining the side

He is captaining the side while the regular skipper is injured.

captaining a ship

She dreamed of captaining a ship across the Atlantic.

experience of captaining

His experience of captaining young players proved valuable.

Synonyms and how they differ

leading

More general and can refer to any group; 'captaining' specifically means holding the official role of captain.

skippering

Informal British term for the same idea, common in sport but not in formal writing.

Opposites

Word family

captain noun

The person in charge of a team, ship, or aircraft.

captaincy noun

The position or period of being captain.

captain verb

The base form meaning to lead as captain.

Commonly confused: captaining or captioning?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “captaining”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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