From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpetty officerˌpetty ˈofficer noun [countable] PMNan officer of low rank in the Navy
Examples from the Corpus
petty officer• A petty officer, his wife and three incredibly well-behaved children were first.• He knew nothing about drill, but learned the necessary movements from books and soon gained promotion to chief petty officer.• Mine hunting director petty officer Simmo Simmons calls up the image on to his table screen.• That other sailor was later identified as Jonathan Rushin, a 23-year-old petty officer third class.• You can earn advancement to leading cook and then to petty officer cook or caterer. 