Definition of "commander in chief" [commander in chief]

• The supreme commander of all the armed forces of a nation. (noun)
• The officer commanding a major armed force. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Meanwhile, on August 14, the Virginia Assembly had appointed Washington its commander in chief of militia, and in that capacity he undertook the almost impossible task of defending a 350-mile-long frontier."
• "His progress, however, was slower than Washington had anticipated, and on July 29 the commander in chief wrote to him, I cannot but repeat my entreaties that you will hasten your operations with all possible dispatch; and that you will disencumber yourself of every article of baggage and stores which is not necessary. . ."
• "He had fought with Wolfe in the decisive battle for Québec, where directly after the war, in 1760, he had been made military governor; in 1761, he had been promoted to major general; two years later he succeeded Jeffrey Amherst as commander in chief of the British forces in America."