skipper1
/ˈskɪpə
/informal
noun
1The captain of a ship or boat, especially a small trading or fishing vessel: the skipper and one other man were convicted of smuggling...
- The skippers and ship owners may be fined £32,000 each.
- Ransa will supply the vessel and a skipper if you need one.
- Boat skippers can cause mishaps on the water with similarly rash behavior.
1.1The captain of a side in a game or sport: the former Derbyshire batsman has been retained as skipper...
- Our skipper plays games against teams with dominant closers as if they are eight innings long.
- Soames is not letting the poor form of his side drag him down and the young skipper was top scorer with 44.
- They know, with the skipper in the side, they won't be lacking guidance and a driving force.
1.2The captain of an aircraft.Our skipper would serve as aircraft commander; he also was the air wing's top-hook aviator....
- Done with maneuvers, a US Navy aircraft carrier skipper decided to let his crew vote on which port to visit for shore leave.
- The skipper followed me as I spiralled down as slowly as possible.
verb [with object]
Act as captain of: the course teaches even complete beginners to skipper their own yachts...
- Simon Talbot from St Osyth was skippering a 53 ft yacht on a trip from Sweden to Cork when the accident happened.
- Lovesick Goodman was nabbed while skippering his seven-metre yacht RoyAnna.
- Philip, 46, skippered a yacht carrying 3.7 tonnes of cannabis - worth 11 million - from North Africa to Cornwall.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Middle Dutch, Middle Low German schipper, from schip 'ship'.
Rhymes
skipper2
/ˈskɪpə/noun
1A person or thing that skips: eight-year-old Mary is a tireless skipper...
- But these aren't any ordinary bit of rope, just as the competitors in the International Rope Skipping Championships aren't any ordinary skippers.
1.1Used in the names of small insects and crustaceans that skip or hop, e.g. cheese-skipper.One universal curing practice was the use of red pepper, which was rubbed into exposed areas, to prevent contamination by skipper flies....
- Predator avoidance is a significant factor driving the evolutionary development of silver-spotted skipper caterpillars.
2A small brownish moth-like butterfly with rapid darting flight.
- Family Hesperiidae: numerous genera.
- What distinguishes a true butterfly from a skipper or a moth?
- The reserve is also home to a large number of butterfly species including green hairsteak, dingy skipper and dark green fritillary.
3The Atlantic saury (fish) (see saury).
skipper3
/ˈskɪpə/noun South African
A long-sleeved sweatshirt or T-shirt.
Origin
Of unknown origin.