air marshal

American  

noun

British.

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

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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

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Etymology

Origin of air marshal

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

The country musician also introduced her as his girlfriend, and his bodyguard Charles Hurd, who showed her his two firearms and told her he was an air marshal, made her feel safe, she alleged.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 13, 2023

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

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

From Washington Post • Dec. 10, 2021

Stephanie Metzger, a supervisory air marshal in charge who was on-site for the training, said a big part of the class is to build self confidence, as well as give flight crew critical self-defense lessons.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 25, 2021

An earlier version of this article misstated the annual cost of the federal air marshal program.

From New York Times • Dec. 5, 2017