petty officer
noun
a noncommissioned U.S. Navy rank with three grades.
one of the minor officers on a merchant ship, as a boatswain or carpenter.
Origin of petty officer
First recorded in 1570–80
Words nearby petty officer
petty bourgeois,
petty bourgeoisie,
petty cash,
petty jury,
petty larceny,
petty officer,
petty sessions,
petty-fitzmaurice,
petulance,
petulancy,
petulant
Example sentences from the Web for petty officer
"I wish to see Commander Hythe," he announced to the petty-officer messenger on duty at the Admiralty.
The Dreadnought of the Air |Percy F. WestermanThe rasp of a petty-officer singing out the numbers mingled with the hiss and gurgle of the spray.
The Syndic |C.M. KornbluthIt was Bates, the petty-officer, who was the first to relate their hazardous adventures.
The Dreadnought of the Air |Percy F. WestermanThe third man turned to give the alarm, but a petty-officer sprang after him and dragged him back by his shirt-collar.
Adventures Among the Red Indians |H. W. G. Hyrst
British Dictionary definitions for petty officer
petty officer
noun
a noncommissioned officer in a naval service, comparable in rank to a sergeant in an army or marine corps