Colonel
noun
A high-ranking officer in an army or air force, ranking below a brigadier general.
He was promoted to the rank of colonel after years in the military.
Often appears as...
- colonel in the army
- retired colonel
noun
A honorary title used in some Southern and Western states in the USA.
Colonel Sanders is the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Often appears as...
- kentucky colonel
- honorary colonel
Usage tips
Approving
Colloquial
noun
A high-ranking officer in an army or air force, ranking below a brigadier general.
He was promoted to the rank of colonel after years in the military.
Often appears as...
- colonel in the army
- retired colonel
noun
A honorary title used in some Southern and Western states in the USA.
Colonel Sanders is the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Often appears as...
- kentucky colonel
- honorary colonel
Usage tips
Approving
Colloquial
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Military Rank
Used to identify military position, not used casually.
The colonel issued new training orders.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Spelled Phonetically
'Colonel' doesn't sound like it's spelled; it's pronounced like 'kernel'.
She mistakenly wrote 'kernel' when she meant 'colonel'.
Pro Tip 3/3Respectful Address
Use as a formal title when addressing a colonel personally.
Good morning, Colonel Smith.
Pro Tip 1/3Military Rank
Used to identify military position, not used casually.
The colonel issued new training orders.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Spelled Phonetically
'Colonel' doesn't sound like it's spelled; it's pronounced like 'kernel'.
She mistakenly wrote 'kernel' when she meant 'colonel'.
Pro Tip 3/3Respectful Address
Use as a formal title when addressing a colonel personally.
Good morning, Colonel Smith.
Pro Tip 1/3Military Rank
Used to identify military position, not used casually.
The colonel issued new training orders.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Spelled Phonetically
'Colonel' doesn't sound like it's spelled; it's pronounced like 'kernel'.
She mistakenly wrote 'kernel' when she meant 'colonel'.
Pro Tip 3/3Respectful Address
Use as a formal title when addressing a colonel personally.
Good morning, Colonel Smith.
Never forget "Colonel"
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Video examples
Give yourself permission...
and he would build a working crossbow that you could shoot an arrow into a tree. So he joins the army. Well, he just retired a colonel in the Green Berets. He's a multidecorated combat veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq. He now teaches a sail camp for children of fallen soldiers. He gave his life to his passion.
Video examples
Why we have an emotional...
and it would walk around a minefield on its legs, and every time it stepped on a mine, one of the legs would blow up, and it would continue on the other legs to blow up more mines. And the colonel who was in charge of this testing exercise ends up calling it off, because, he says, it's too inhumane
Video examples
Inside the Doomsday...
war plan it's considered basically it's top-secret so it stepped out of line wide National Geographic was given rare access to an e for B by the u.s. air force colonel Marty Doble has commanded the Night Watch mission for three and a half years you've got numerous fixed
Video examples
Remembering John Glenn:...
lieutenant colonel United States Marine Corps married father of two teenage children Glenn has been a pilot over half of his 40 years has flown in two wars and as a veteran test pilot who five years earlier established a transcontinental flight record as the
Video examples
The rebel radio that...
But in reality, the radio team had outsmarted him once again. The transmitter was boobytrapped. Once Monterrosa’s helicopter left the press conference, radio members detonated the device over El Mozote, killing the colonel near the village he had massacred.
Video examples
Fighting with...
And I think there are signs that it is beginning to change. The British military have always been much better at this. But there is one magnificent example for them to take their cue from, and that's a brilliant U.S. lieutenant colonel called Chris Hughes.
Video examples
The last chief of the...
U.S. Colonel Ranald MacKenzie led the latest iteration. From summer to winter, he tracked Quanah. But Quanah was also tracking him, and each time the colonel drew near his targets, they disappeared without a trace into the vast plains.
Video examples
Battle for Fallujah PIPE...
insurgents the insurgents continue to wait indoors to ambush the troops November 13th lieutenant colonel Willie Buell leads marine battalion 3-1 on a house clearing mission they learned that several
Video examples
Attenborough Recounts...
massive equipment it looked awfully overloaded to me and Colonel William said don't worry lads he said I've done this before and the engine started he put absolutely full boost on
Video examples
Who Were the Rough...
influence to get a commission as lieutenant colonel in the first United States volunteer cavalry regiment that's cool he assembled a combination and only
Video examples
Give yourself permission...
and he would build a working crossbow that you could shoot an arrow into a tree. So he joins the army. Well, he just retired a colonel in the Green Berets. He's a multidecorated combat veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq. He now teaches a sail camp for children of fallen soldiers. He gave his life to his passion.
Video examples
Why we have an emotional...
and it would walk around a minefield on its legs, and every time it stepped on a mine, one of the legs would blow up, and it would continue on the other legs to blow up more mines. And the colonel who was in charge of this testing exercise ends up calling it off, because, he says, it's too inhumane
Video examples
Inside the Doomsday...
war plan it's considered basically it's top-secret so it stepped out of line wide National Geographic was given rare access to an e for B by the u.s. air force colonel Marty Doble has commanded the Night Watch mission for three and a half years you've got numerous fixed
Video examples
Remembering John Glenn:...
lieutenant colonel United States Marine Corps married father of two teenage children Glenn has been a pilot over half of his 40 years has flown in two wars and as a veteran test pilot who five years earlier established a transcontinental flight record as the
Video examples
The rebel radio that...
But in reality, the radio team had outsmarted him once again. The transmitter was boobytrapped. Once Monterrosa’s helicopter left the press conference, radio members detonated the device over El Mozote, killing the colonel near the village he had massacred.
Video examples
Fighting with...
And I think there are signs that it is beginning to change. The British military have always been much better at this. But there is one magnificent example for them to take their cue from, and that's a brilliant U.S. lieutenant colonel called Chris Hughes.
Video examples
The last chief of the...
U.S. Colonel Ranald MacKenzie led the latest iteration. From summer to winter, he tracked Quanah. But Quanah was also tracking him, and each time the colonel drew near his targets, they disappeared without a trace into the vast plains.
Video examples
Battle for Fallujah PIPE...
insurgents the insurgents continue to wait indoors to ambush the troops November 13th lieutenant colonel Willie Buell leads marine battalion 3-1 on a house clearing mission they learned that several
Video examples
Attenborough Recounts...
massive equipment it looked awfully overloaded to me and Colonel William said don't worry lads he said I've done this before and the engine started he put absolutely full boost on
Video examples
Who Were the Rough...
influence to get a commission as lieutenant colonel in the first United States volunteer cavalry regiment that's cool he assembled a combination and only
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Shari Arison
Israeli Businesswoman
Business is not a spiritual matter, and my business decisions are not based on spiritual considerations. When I founded the Essence of Life, a project aimed at teaching tolerance and respectful dialogue, the person appointed to head it was Irit Atzmon, a former colonel in the army. Can anything be more down-to-earth than that?
Quote examples
John F. Kelly
American Public Servant
Whether you're a second lieutenant working with a captain and a lieutenant colonel, or a four-star general working with the Office Secretary of Defense and the White House, the decision makers have got to have ground truth. Otherwise, the decisions they make could be flawed - and that can be dangerous.
Quote examples
Jackie Robinson
American Baseball Player
The colonel replied that he didn't care how my men had got the job done. He was happy that it had been accomplished. He said that, obviously, no matter how much or how little I knew technically, I was able to get the best out of people I worked with.
Quote examples
Erin Gray
American Actress
Yes. I was the first female colonel. I enjoyed being that kind of role model for young women watching the show. A woman can be a colonel! A woman can be in charge! Those were new ideas then.
Quote examples
Mikis Theodorakis
Greek Composer
In Greece there is a very particular situation because on one hand the colonels took away everyone's political rights, but at the same time the economic and social situation improved.
Quote examples
Gerald Griffin
American Author
I found out that colonels can stay until they drop dead or get a walker and being a critical medical specialty as an Army trained emergency room doctor, I could stay until age 67.
Quote examples
William Odom
American Soldier
I remember serving in Vietnam in that war, and many of us at the major Lieutenant Colonel, colonel level were frustrated that no one in the U.S. wanted to debate it that way.
Quote examples
Robert C. O'Brien
American Public Servant
We are not a country where a bunch of lieutenant colonels can get together and decide what the policy is of the United States.
Quote examples
Kemp Muhl
American Singer
My father is a retired army colonel, and my family is into hunting.
Quote examples
Garry Kasparov
Celebrity
I've met enough KGB colonels in my life.
Quote examples
Shari Arison
Israeli Businesswoman
Business is not a spiritual matter, and my business decisions are not based on spiritual considerations. When I founded the Essence of Life, a project aimed at teaching tolerance and respectful dialogue, the person appointed to head it was Irit Atzmon, a former colonel in the army. Can anything be more down-to-earth than that?
Quote examples
John F. Kelly
American Public Servant
Whether you're a second lieutenant working with a captain and a lieutenant colonel, or a four-star general working with the Office Secretary of Defense and the White House, the decision makers have got to have ground truth. Otherwise, the decisions they make could be flawed - and that can be dangerous.
Quote examples
Jackie Robinson
American Baseball Player
The colonel replied that he didn't care how my men had got the job done. He was happy that it had been accomplished. He said that, obviously, no matter how much or how little I knew technically, I was able to get the best out of people I worked with.
Quote examples
Erin Gray
American Actress
Yes. I was the first female colonel. I enjoyed being that kind of role model for young women watching the show. A woman can be a colonel! A woman can be in charge! Those were new ideas then.
Quote examples
Mikis Theodorakis
Greek Composer
In Greece there is a very particular situation because on one hand the colonels took away everyone's political rights, but at the same time the economic and social situation improved.
Quote examples
Gerald Griffin
American Author
I found out that colonels can stay until they drop dead or get a walker and being a critical medical specialty as an Army trained emergency room doctor, I could stay until age 67.
Quote examples
William Odom
American Soldier
I remember serving in Vietnam in that war, and many of us at the major Lieutenant Colonel, colonel level were frustrated that no one in the U.S. wanted to debate it that way.
Quote examples
Robert C. O'Brien
American Public Servant
We are not a country where a bunch of lieutenant colonels can get together and decide what the policy is of the United States.
Quote examples
Kemp Muhl
American Singer
My father is a retired army colonel, and my family is into hunting.
Quote examples
Garry Kasparov
Celebrity
I've met enough KGB colonels in my life.
Example 1 of 10
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