lieutenant colonel

noun

, U.S. Military.

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

lieutenant colonel

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of lieutenant colonel¹

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

The colonels and lieutenant colonels and captains dropping hats, ties and ranks and becoming Jim, Cynthia, Joe and Frank as they formed four-person litters to rescue the wounded, litters that would not be used that day.

From Washington Post

Aliaksandr Azarau was a lieutenant colonel in Belarus’s police force, and before that, he worked to combat organized crime and corruption for the Ministry of Interior.

From MIT Technology Review

Parker, an engineer who had graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic, had served with Grant in the Civil War as a commissioned lieutenant colonel, and transcribed the terms of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox in part because of his excellent handwriting.

From MIT Technology Review

My immediate chief was a Lieutenant Colonel Verne L. Bowers, clearly picked out by Eisenhower as a highly talented staff officer.

From The Daily Beast

Dave Bredensteiner of Bedford, who served under the lieutenant colonel in Iraq, praised her effusively as an excellent leader.

From The Daily Beast

Ernst, a lieutenant colonel in the Iowa National Guard, seemed Palinesque at times.

From The Daily Beast

Ironically, former Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North is another featured speaker at the NRA Convention.

From The Daily Beast

The lieutenant colonel experienced that with his Christmas party.

From The Daily Beast

Lieutenant Colonel Buell, in command at Independence, although repeatedly warned, allowed himself to be surprised.

From Project Gutenberg

His experience and ability soon marked him out for command, and he was chosen by his comrades as lieutenant-colonel.

From Project Gutenberg

His career cannot have been brilliant, since it took him twenty years to rise to the rank corresponding to a lieutenant-colonel.

From Project Gutenberg

Both the colonel and lieutenant-colonel of the regiment to which Edward Middleton belonged had fallen.

From Project Gutenberg

He was, for this reason, at once elected lieutenant-colonel of the volunteer legion of the Pyrenees.

From Project Gutenberg