Boston Tea Party

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noun American History.

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.

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Origin of Boston Tea Party

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35

Words nearby Boston Tea Party

Boston marriage, Boston Massacre, Boston matrix, Boston rocker, Boston states, Boston Tea Party, Boston terrier, bosun, bosun bird, Boswash, Boswell

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Boston Tea Party in a sentence

Neither the Republican nor the Democratic party have done anything to consistently target Asian- American voters.
Asian-Americans Are The New Florida|Tim Mak|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Although the NFL party animal loves flaunting his washboard abs, he seems more fratboy than Fabio.
‘A Gronking to Remember’ Speed Read: 8 Naughtiest Bits|Emily Shire|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Eva Silverman, who co-hosts an Oakland Dinner Party, agrees.
Everyone at This Dinner Party Has Lost Someone|Samantha Levine|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Those who come to the Dinner Party are self-selecting; they do want to talk about it.
Everyone at This Dinner Party Has Lost Someone|Samantha Levine|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Talking about death is never easy, but with food, comfort, and familiarity, a new kind of dinner party is making it easier.
Everyone at This Dinner Party Has Lost Someone|Samantha Levine|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Some weeks after, the creditor chanced to be in Boston, and in walking up Tremont street, encountered his enterprising friend.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun;|Various
Thus far Boston banks have received more benefits from this bank than have the other banks in this district.
Readings in Money and Banking|Chester Arthur Phillips
Being quieted by the Captain with a draught of cold tea, and made to sit down, the examination of the book proceeded.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
Walls End Castle, when the party broke up, returned to its normal state.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
Afterwards we saw you once or twice at tea at the Ritz, and you took off your hat, so you must have remembered then.
Rosemary in Search of a Father|C. N. Williamson

British Dictionary definitions for Boston Tea Party

Boston Tea Party

noun

US 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

Cultural definitions for Boston Tea Party

Boston Tea Party

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.