Meaning & use
crew
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Meanings
nouncountable
All the people who work on a ship, aircraft or train, apart from passengers.
Grammar: A collective noun; British English accepts a plural verb, American usually a singular.
Patterns
- the crew of something
- crew on something
The crew welcomed passengers aboard the flight.
The ship's crew numbered about forty.
A tired crew guided the plane safely home.
nouncountable
A group of people with special skills who work together on a particular job or project.
Grammar: Often after a noun: film crew, road crew.
Patterns
- a crew of something
- a film crew
The road crew repaired the highway overnight.
A film crew shot the scene on the beach.
A construction crew arrived at six.
nouncountable or uncountablesport
A team of rowers in a boat, or the sport of rowing.
Grammar: In sport, the crew can mean the rowers or the sport itself.
Patterns
- row in a crew
- join the crew
She joined the university crew in her first year.
The Oxford crew pulled ahead in the final stretch.
He used to row crew at college.
nouncountableinformal
A group of friends or associates, sometimes a loosely organized gang.
Grammar: Informal; can be friendly or imply a gang.
Patterns
- my crew
- a crew of friends
Me and my crew went to the lake last weekend.
The old school crew still meets every year.
The crew spent the night laughing.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To work as a member of a ship's or aircraft's crew, or as part of a team.
Grammar: Can take an object (crew a yacht) or none (crew for a team).
Patterns
- crew a boat
- crew for someone
He crewed a yacht across the Atlantic.
She crews on weekends for a local sailing club.
We need three people to crew this boat.
Word forms
| plural | crews |
|---|---|
| third person singular | crews |
| past tense | crewed |
| -ing form | crewing |
Common combinations
- flight crew
- The flight crew checked every door before departure.
- film crew
- A film crew blocked the street.
- ground crew
- The ground crew refueled the jet.
- crew member
- Each crew member wore a bright vest.
- skeleton crew
- Only a skeleton crew worked over the holiday.
- rescue crew
- A rescue crew reached the stranded hikers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- team
- Team is broader and fits any group working together, while crew often suggests operating a vehicle or doing physical work.
- staff
- Staff means all the employees of an organization, a much larger and more permanent group than a crew.
- company
- Company can mean a group of performers or sailors, but sounds more formal.
- gang
- Gang usually has a negative sense of a criminal group, while crew is neutral or friendly.
Opposites
Word family
- crewman noun
- a male member of a crew
- crewmate noun
- a fellow member of a crew
- crewed adjective
- carrying a crew; opposite of uncrewed
- uncrewed adjective
- operating without a crew on board
Commonly confused: crew or cruise? crew or screw?
crew vs cruise
A cruise is a sea trip for pleasure; a crew is the group of people who work on a vessel.
crew vs screw
A screw is a threaded fastener; it only looks similar to crew in print.
Practice
The airline said the flight was delayed because the ___ had not arrived at the gate.
Choose one answer.
The crew are the staff who operate the aircraft, so a flight can wait for them. A crowd is a group of people, cargo is freight, and a cruise is a trip.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “crew”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.