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a raid on three British ships in Boston Harbor (December 16, 1773) in which Boston colonists, disguised as Indians, threw the contents of several hundred chests of tea into the harbor as a protest against British taxes on tea and against the monopoly granted the East India Company.
noun
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history a raid in 1773 made by citizens of Boston (disguised as Indians) on three British ships in the harbour as a protest against taxes on tea and the monopoly given to the East India Company. The contents of several hundred chests of tea were dumped into the harbour
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged"
2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986
© HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005,
2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Boston Tea Party
Cultural
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An act of defiance toward the British government by American colonists; it took place in 1773, before the Revolutionary War. The government in London had given a British company the right to sell tea directly to the colonies, thereby undercutting American merchants. A group of colonists found a ship in the harbor of Boston that was loaded with the company's tea. They dressed as Native Americans, boarded the ship, and threw hundreds of chests of tea overboard. The British government then tried to punish the colonists by closing the port of Boston, but this move only intensified American resistance to the rule of the king.
Etymology
An Americanism dating back to 1825–35
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any
opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His father-in-law was a merchant who received the tea that provoked the Boston Tea Party in 1773.
From
The Wall Street Journal
• Jun. 5, 2026
And around the corner, by the Fort Point Channel and near the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, sits rival Wellington.
From
Barron's
• May 1, 2026
Rob Lowe fronted a docudrama series on the Boston Tea Party.
From
Los Angeles Times
• Mar. 27, 2024
The group takes its name from the Green Dragon Tavern, a Boston pub where organisers planned the so-called Boston Tea Party in 1773.
From
BBC
• Mar. 14, 2024
I knew that a few black men had participated in the Boston Tea Party, but even so, the last thing I needed right now was to stand out.
From
"Glitch" by Laura Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
