Definition of "skipper"

skipper¹

/ˈskɪp.ə(ɹ)/

noun
plural skippers
1. (nautical) The master of a ship.
  Quotations
  The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor was a God-fearing man with a luke warm interest in his new billet and employer, and had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy.
  1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter X, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd.
2. A coach, director, or other leader.
3. (sports) The captain of a sports team such as football, cricket, rugby or curling.
  Quotations
  But even the return of skipper Steven Gerrard from a six-week injury layoff could not inspire Liverpool
  2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC‎
verb
third-person singular simple present skippers, present participle skippering, simple past and past participle skippered
1. (transitive) To captain a ship or a sports team.
  Quotations
  Tourist subs, which could once be skippered by anyone with a U.S. Coast Guard captain’s license
  2019, Tony Perrottet, “A Deep Dive Into the Plans to Take Tourists to the ‘Titanic’”, in Smithsonian Magazine

skipper²

/ˈskɪp.ə(ɹ)/

noun
plural skippers
1. Agent noun of skip: one who skips.
2. A person who skips, or fails to attend class.
3. (sports) One who jumps rope.
4. Any of various butterflies of the families Hesperiidae and its subfamily Megathyminae, having a hairy mothlike body, hooked tips on the antennae, and a darting flight pattern.
  Quotations
  Blue skippers in sunny hours ope and shutWhere wormwood and grunsel flowers by the cart ruts […]
  c. 1864, John Clare, We passed by green closes
5. Any of several marine fishes that often leap above water, especially Cololabis saira (Pacific saury) and Sprattus sprattus (European sprat).
6. (obsolete) A young, thoughtless person.
  Quotations
  Skipper, stand back; 'tis age that nourisheth
  c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene i]
7. The cheese maggot, the larva of a cheese fly (family Piophilidae), which leaps to escape predators.

skipper³

/ˈskɪp.ə(ɹ)/

noun
plural skippers
1. A barn or shed in which to shelter for the night.
verb
third-person singular simple present skippers, present participle skippering, simple past and past participle skippered
1. (intransitive) To take shelter in a barn or shed.

skipper⁴

/ˈskɪp.ə(ɹ)/

noun
plural skippers
1. (South Africa) A short-sleeved (or long-sleeved) tee-shirt, or sweatshirt.
  Quotations
  Plain nylon doeks...Men's knitted skippers, long sleeves, three buttons in front.
  1971, Golden City Post, 26 June
  The special constables..were issued with one pair of boots, two overalls, one raincoat, and two skippers — but no shirts or warm coats.
  1987, w:Eastern Province Herald, 19 August
  My neighbour's little boy pestered his dad for a 'Viva' T-shirt. This long-suffering man pointed out to his son that he had been sharing his Cosatu skipper with him.., but the kid..did not want to wear it any longer as it was not, as he put it, 'skipa sa Mandela'.
  1990 May 26, O. Musi, Drum Magazine