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lieutenant commander
noun
: a commissioned officer in the navy or coast guard ranking above a lieutenant and below a commander
Examples of lieutenant commander in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
After the lieutenant commander gave the order for all hands to abandon ship, Conter moved to a boat to search for the wounded and the dead in the water.
—Ariane Lange, Sacramento Bee, 2 Apr. 2024
Among the nine Republican candidates invited to debate, only DeSantis has military service, having risen to lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy.
—Politifact Staff Writer, Dallas News, 23 Aug. 2023
Suddenly, the lieutenant commander was thrust into making frantic preparations, his retirement plans scuppered.
—Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2023
Their instructors, a retired lieutenant commander and senior chief, respectively, are caring, strict and devoted to their development as young leaders.
—WSJ, 9 June 2023
Dietrich, who retired in 2021 as a lieutenant commander, earned a Bronze Star and an Air Medal in combat and had 1,250 hours of flight time.
—Popular Mechanics, 25 Apr. 2023
Representative Michelle Steel, who like Ms. Kim is a Korean American Republican who flipped a seat in 2020, is running in a new, heavily Asian American district in what is expected to be a close race against Jay Chen, a small-business owner and lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
—New York Times, 6 June 2022
Cranston was promoted to lieutenant commander in September 2016, while Navy records show his awards and decorations include the Joint Service Commendation Medal, four Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals and four Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals.
—Michael Lee, Fox News, 22 Nov. 2021
What about Steel’s challenger, Jay Chen, the Taiwanese American Democrat and active lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserve?
—Jada Yuan, Washington Post, 7 Nov. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lieutenant commander.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1839, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of lieutenant commander was
in 1839
Dictionary Entries Near lieutenant commander
Cite this Entry
“Lieutenant commander.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lieutenant%20commander. Accessed 6 Jul. 2024.
Kids Definition
lieutenant commander
noun
: a naval commissioned officer with a rank just below that of commander
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