cap'n

plural cap'ns

1. abbreviationcontractioninformalContraction of captain used as a title.

   Aye aye, cap'n!

   2 more examples

   “Uh, I think we should do, uh, what you want to do, Cap'n. Cap'n's choice.” “I'm not asking you to kiss my ass. Come on. No wrong answers.” “Uh, okay. We could do evasive maneuver eighty... eight...?” “Is he (bleep)ing serious?” “That was the wrong answer!” “I meant 84.” “In this situation? Are you crazy?” “Mariner!” “Have you not been paying attention? That could get us killed.”

   2020 September 24, Garrick Bernard, “Veritas” (5:31 from the start), in Star Trek: Lower Decks, season 1, episode 8, spoken by Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid)

   “If you really feel like you need a special ending to this, you have about an hour to make it hap'n, cap'n.” “Actually, now, about a half hour.”

   2024 December 16, Sam Johnson & Sarah Naftalis & Paul Simms, “The Finale” (15:59 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 6, episode 11, spoken by Nadja of Antipaxos (Natasia Demetriou)

plural Cap'ns

1. abbreviationcontractioninformalContraction of Captain.

   HE WAS a fine pirate, in the best piratical tradition, and stood outside our local toy library.

   1992 October 27, Adrian Leftwich, “A serious offence, piracy: When Cap'n Hook vanished one day, Adrian Leftwich investigated”, in The Independent, London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 06 Jul 2022

   2 more examples

   The cynical assert that Cap'ns Edwards and Felix and the rest of them don't know a bull whale when they see one, and that the chances are that Father Whale is the missing member of the family.

   1921 December 25, “BABY WHALE JOINS ITS DAD. So Says Cap'n Edwards, but Amagansett Has Doubts.”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 Nov 2025

   Javier Bardem brings an air of mouldering chorizo to this guest-villain role, but the screenplay doesn’t develop the enmity so much as jetski around it, stirring up noisy turbulence – doubtless sensing that the fanbase isn’t here for intricate yarn-spinning, rather the long-awaited/shruggingly tolerated return of Cap’n Jack.

   2017 May 22, Mike McCahill, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales review – Cap'n Jack's panto's back”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 May 2017