lieutenant colonel

American  

noun

U.S. Military.

1. a commissioned officer ranking next below a colonel and next above a major.

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lieutenant colonel British  

noun

1. an officer holding commissioned rank immediately junior to a colonel in certain armies, air forces, and marine corps

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Etymology

Origin of lieutenant colonel

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

Known as the Crab, because he was born with an extra finger, the hulking Rodriguez Castro is a lieutenant colonel in the island’s interior ministry in charge of his grandfather’s security detail.

From The Wall Street Journal

“There’s a chilling effect against pushing back or at least openly questioning any kind of orders,” Rachel E. VanLandingham, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, told me.

From Los Angeles Times

As a teenager she worked as an au pair in India, and later lived in Hong Kong and Gibraltar with her husband Norman, a lieutenant colonel in the army.

From BBC

Mr Caterham became a lieutenant colonel in the army, and the couple were stationed in Hong Kong and Gibraltar.

From BBC

“She said she was lieutenant colonel in the GRU,” Perlowin, now 74, told The Times, referring to the Soviet Union’s military intelligence agency.

From Los Angeles Times