air marshal
nounDefinition of air marshal
1 : a commissioned officer in the British air force who ranks with a lieutenant general in the army
2 : an armed federal officer in plain clothes who is assigned to prevent skyjackings : sky marshal
Examples of air marshal in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
If everything else fails, the air marshal is there to take down anything that may happen. — Bart Jansen, USA TODAY, "Terror in the skies: TSA's air marshals are 'last line of defense,' but is the program really needed?," 17 May 2018 There were two federal air marshals among the 178 people onboard the plane, according to ABC. — Char Adams, PEOPLE.com, "Washington Man Forced to Pay Delta Airlines and Faces Jail After Causing Emergency Landing," 12 July 2018 Allison said of how many in-flight terror plots have been stopped by air marshals. — CBS News, "After scathing report, will federal air marshal program be grounded?," 11 May 2018 Chief Ronny Potts, a former air marshal, patrols schools with the help of three reserve officers. — Diane Smith And Anna M. Tinsley, star-telegram, "Armed employees or a police force: Which is better for schools?," 4 June 2018 Most of those arrests were for rowdy passengers or immigration violations, according to several air marshals. — Ron Nixon, New York Times, "Scandals and Investigations, but Few Arrests, for Air Marshals Program," 25 Apr. 2018 Michael LaFrance joined the air marshals after 9/11 and now helps run the agency's training center. — CBS News, "After scathing report, will federal air marshal program be grounded?," 11 May 2018 The flight attendants then asked the federal air marshals on the flight to help with Beach. — Fox News, "Delta passenger toppled drink cart, threw coffee before attacking air marshal, police say," 22 Apr. 2018 He was wrestled down by the flight’s two air marshals and crew members. — Washington Post, "EgyptAir passenger on Muscat-Cairo flight assaults crew," 6 Mar. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'air marshal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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From the Editors at Merriam-Webster
Laying Down the Law on 'Martial' and...
Laying Down the Law on 'Martial' and 'Marshal'
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Last Updated
4 Aug 2018
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The first known use of air marshal was in 1919
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