Definition of "first mate" []

• An officer on a merchant ship ranking immediately below the captain. (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.

• "The leader of the uprising, first mate John Sands, was apparently a British spy; he had taken careful notes on the cargo and destination of the other ships in the convoy."
• "She was Surprize, captained out of London by Nicholas Anstis, who had been first mate on Lady Penrhyn and had an interest in the slaving business."
• "That left Lieutenant John Shortland and first mate Long to take the salmon-jawed pair."