impressment

Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of impressment 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 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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impressment
seizure
Noun
  • What starts to come into view is that Laura had a daughter who looks suspiciously like Piper, and that perhaps Laura has tried this trick before on Oliver, who can’t leave the premises without having a grand mal seizure.
    Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 16 May 2025
  • On May 5, 2025, the Education Department officially resumed collections on defaulted loans, including tax refund offsets, wage garnishment of paychecks, and the seizure of Social Security benefits for the first time since 2020.
    Shahar Ziv, Forbes.com, 16 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Impressment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impressment. Accessed 25 May. 2025.

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