air marshal

American  

noun

British.

1. an air force officer of a rank comparable to an army lieutenant general.

---

air marshal British  

noun

1. a senior Royal Air Force officer of equivalent rank to a vice admiral in the Royal Navy

2. a Royal Australian Air Force officer of the highest rank

3. a Royal New Zealand Air Force officer of the highest rank when chief of defence forces

4. a person employed to travel as an armed guard on commercial flights to protect against hijacking

---

Etymology

Origin of air marshal

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

Before joining HSI, Nelson was in the Air Force and served in Iraq in 2008, then worked at state and federal prisons and as an air marshal.

From Washington Times • Jan. 24, 2023

Irizarry, who speaks in a smooth patter that seamlessly switches between English and Spanish, was a federal air marshal and Border Patrol agent before joining the DEA in 2009.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 14, 2022

The air marshal suffered minor injuries and did not need medical attention, the TSA said.

From Washington Post • Dec. 10, 2021

The 29-year-old tech entrepreneur breezed past the check-in desk and out onto the tarmac with the confidence of an air marshal, a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses perched on her nose.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 21, 2019

One report questioned the contributions of the federal air marshal program, which places armed marshals on commercial flights to protect passengers and crews against a terrorist attack.

From New York Times • Dec. 5, 2017