crew

¹

[ kroo ]

noun

1. a group of persons involved in a particular kind of work or working together:

   the crew of a train;

   a wrecking crew.

2. Nautical.
   1. the people who sail or operate a ship or boat.
   2. the common sailors of a ship's company.
   3. a particular gang of a ship's company.
3. the people who fly or operate an aircraft or spacecraft.
4. the team that rows a racing shell:

   varsity crew.

5. the sport of racing with racing shells:

   He went out for crew in his freshman year.

6. a company; crowd:

   He and his crew of friends filled the room.

7. any force or band of armed men.

verb (used with object)

1. to serve as a member of a crew on (a ship, aircraft, etc.).
2. to obtain or employ a crew for (a ship, aircraft, etc.).

verb (used without object)

1. to serve as a member of a crew.

crew

²

[ kroo ]

verb

1. a simple past tense of crow ².

crew

¹

/ kruː /

noun

1. the men who man a ship, boat, aircraft, etc
2. nautical a group of people assigned to a particular job or type of work
3. informal.
   a gang, company, or crowd

verb

1. to serve on (a ship) as a member of the crew

crew

²

/ kruː /

verb

1. See crow
   a past tense of crow 2

Grammar Note

See collective noun.

Other Words From

• crewless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of crew¹

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English crewe “augmentation,” hence “reinforcements, body of soldiers,” from Middle French creue, literally, “an increase,” noun use of feminine of Old French creu “grown, increased,” past participle of creistre “to grow,” from Latin crēscere; crescent

Word History and Origins

Origin of crew¹

C15 crue (military) reinforcement, from Old French creue augmentation, from Old French creistre to increase, from Latin crescere

Example Sentences

Although I’m a little self-conscious, I’m proud of my work on it— shot on a hot summer day with a safe and socially distant crew in my garage.

From Fortune

There’s still a lot to learn about how every team is going to perform this season, but the entire Hot Takedown crew is united in hoping that Washington permanently adopts the clunky, quaint “Football Team” nickname.

From FiveThirtyEight

Military chopper pilots and crews have rescued another 78 people who had been trapped on the mountain amid the flames.

From Washington Blade

In this week’s FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew discuss which states could be competitive in the 2020 election.

From FiveThirtyEight

In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew discusses how those trends are playing out and what it means for the 2020 electoral map.

From FiveThirtyEight

The brokers then scout out potential “crew members” who can earn substantial discounts for working the journey.

From The Daily Beast

Specifically, what briefing did the flight crew receive before they went to the airplane?

From The Daily Beast

Carlisle writes that the Air Force would want a crew ratio of 10 to one for each drone orbit during normal everyday operations.

From The Daily Beast

J Crew did not give back the money it incidentally made off of Mrs. Obama.

From The Daily Beast

Crew members had to cut through the ice on the streets to get shots.

From The Daily Beast

I asked whether he or the crew had seen any prodigious birds in the air about the time he first discovered me?

From Project Gutenberg

It was well that Monsieur de Biancourt was wiser than many of his crew, whose sole cry was to kill them all.

From Project Gutenberg

Three days after we left the port, a discovery was made of another addition to the number of the crew.

From Project Gutenberg

On the following day they were again seen, and fired upon by the boat's crew of the Dick.

From Project Gutenberg

Peroo, well known to the crew, had possessed himself of the wheel, and was taking the launch craftily up-stream.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• band
• company
• corps
• crowd
• gang
• squad
• team
• troop

More About Crew

What is a basic definition of crew?

A crew is a group of people who work together. Crew can also be used more generally to mean any crowd of people or as a verb to mean to serve as a member of a crew. Crew has a few other senses as a noun and a verb.

The word crew is mostly interchangeable with words like team, squad, or gang. However, crew is the specific term used to mean a cooperative group of people that operates a boat, an airplane, or a spacecraft. In any case, a crew usually has a person who is the leader or the captain. The word crewmember or crewman refers to a single individual within the crew.

• Real-life examples: Boats are operated by a crew of sailors, airplanes are operated by pilots and the rest of the flight crew, and spacecraft are operated by a crew of astronauts. A building might be destroyed by a wrecking crew. A dance crew performs in front of people. Race cars are fixed by pit crews.
• Used in a sentence: The boat was attacked by Captain Kidd and his crew of pirates. 

In this same sense, crew is used as a verb to mean to be a member of a crew.

• Used in a sentence: I have crewed over a dozen boats since I became a sailor. 

Crew can also be generally used to mean any group or crowd of people.

• Used in a sentence: I bought drinks for Jayden and his crew of friends. 

Where does crew come from?

The first records of crew come from around 1425. It ultimately comes from the Latin crēscere, meaning “to grow” or “to arise.”

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to crew?

• crewless (adjective)

What are some synonyms for crew?

• team
• squad
• company
• corps
• gang
• band

What are some words that share a root or word element with crew? 

• crewman
• crew chief
• crew cut

What are some words that often get used in discussing crew?

• boat
• ship
• airplane
• spacecraft
• road
• wrecking
• pit

How is crew used in real life?

Crew is a common word that refers to a team or crowd of people.

Cherish this time with your loved ones. On July 27, 1969, our Apollo 11 crew, still in quarantine van, were greeted by wives, through a window, upon arrival at Ellington AFB. #BuzzAldrinforStayingSafe #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/4HAxowYKti

— Dr. Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) April 26, 2020

For sure – although I'd be interested to see if there are any differences in the between-flight time for crewed vs. uncrewed missions

— Matthew Petersen 🇺🇲 (@meptrsn) January 20, 2021

I was just living my best life and bringing my crew along then the internet started being super nice to me. Thanks but what have I done?

— Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) July 31, 2019

Try using crew!

True or False?

The word crew is most often used to refer to the teams that operate boats, airplanes, and spacecraft.