crew1

 
Pronunciation: /kruː/

noun

  • 1 [treated as singular or plural] a group of people who work on and operate a ship, aircraft, etc.: he was one of nine members of the crew killed when the plane went down
  • a group of people working on a ship, aircraft, etc. other than the officers: the ship’s captain and crew may be brought to trial
  • [mass noun] US the sport of rowing.
  • 2a group of people who work closely together: a film crew
  • informal, often derogatory a group of people associated in some way: a crew of assorted computer geeks
  • informal, chiefly US a group of rappers, break dancers, or graffiti artists performing or operating together: a graffiti crew called the Syndicate

verb

[with object]
  • provide (a craft or vehicle) with a group of people to operate it: normally the boat is crewed by five people
  • [no object] act as a member of a crew, subordinate to a captain: I’ve never crewed for a world-famous yachtsman before

Derivatives

crewman

noun (plural crewmen)

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French creue 'augmentation, increase', feminine past participle of croistre 'grow', from Latin crescere. The original sense was 'band of soldiers serving as reinforcements'; hence it came to denote any organized armed band or, generally, a company of people (late 16th century)