impressment

Definition of impressmentnext

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of impressment The Advertiser was edited by Samuel Adams for artisans and laborers fired up by their successful resistance to impressment—the Navy’s effort to grab men for forced service—and concerned about rising poverty in the postwar depression. Time, 7 July 2025 In particular, the U.S. government protested British interference with its foreign trade and the Royal Navy’s practice of impressment, which meant forcing American sailors to serve aboard British warships. Lawrence B.a. Hatter / Made By History, TIME, 4 Feb. 2025 The United States declared war on Great Britain after more incidents of naval impressment, trade restrictions, and the British attack of the Chesapeake. Liz Tracey, JSTOR Daily, 14 Nov. 2024 The crew was a combustible mix of regular sailors, marines and impressed crewmen — impressment being a kind of slavery wherein men were kidnapped and forced to serve for an indefinite period. Mary Ann Gwinn, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2023 Jefferson’s accession to the presidency coincided with demands for higher payments and the impressment of a U.S. Navy frigate, the USS George Washington, by the Dey of Algiers as a courier vessel. John Yoo, National Review, 15 Jan. 2020 These distinctive tattoos were then recorded in their personal Seamen’s Protection Certificates, which were used as identification and to help stave off impressment. Jennifer Nalewicki, Smithsonian, 28 Feb. 2017 In fact, by the late summer of 1812, the British had eliminated the orders in council, leaving impressment as the only unresolved issue of any consequence. Foreign Affairs, 31 Oct. 2012
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impressment
Noun
  • Both contracts gained more than 7% last week as hopes of a peace deal that would end ship attacks and seizures around the Strait of Hormuz dimmed.
    Christopher Cann, USA Today, 18 May 2026
  • That transparency became especially important after Gijon experienced seizure symptoms while teaching during her third year in the classroom in 2017.
    Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 18 May 2026
Noun
  • The case of Sherri Papini, the young woman who shocked the nation with a multi-year kidnapping hoax, has been the subject of multiple documentaries since her conviction in 2022.
    Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 15 May 2026
  • Federal authorities describe TdA as a sprawling transnational organization involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, and killings across Latin America and increasingly inside the United States.
    Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 15 May 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Impressment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impressment. Accessed 21 May. 2026.

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