boarding party

American  

noun

1. a group of persons who board a vessel, especially to attack, seize, or search it.

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Etymology

Origin of boarding party

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Viruses, he explains, work because they are covered with spikes that function “like a pirate boarding party,” fastening on to a cell “like a grappling hook” to get inside and replicate themselves thousands of times, ultimately become a guiding force behind evolution.

From Washington Post

Deputies with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, along with the Maine Marine Patrol and a Coast Guard boarding party, responded to the scene.

From Fox News

Maritime Administration said U.S.-flagged commercial vessels should send their transit plans for the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf waters to U.S. and British naval authorities, and that crews should not forcibly resist any Iranian boarding party.

From Reuters

Luke exclaims ‘it’s not as if I like the Empire, I hate it’, and Solo, who has just lost a hold full of spice and gained a price on his head because of an Imperial boarding party, lies automatically to the cantina stormtroopers, and shoots them dead without hesitation.

From Salon

They demanded surrender, and sent a boarding party which raked the bridge and decks with gunfire, wounding the captain and several others, and killing one crew member, Duane Hodges.

From Washington Times