sky marshal
1
6.3
- noun
- /ˈskaɪ ˈmɑːrʃəl/
- UK
:
agente de seguridad aérea
- That's the sky marshal.
Examples
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Would you rather I knocked you out and zip-tied you to the sky marshal?
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And zip-tied you to the sky marshal?
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Is he really a sky marshal?
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Is he really a sky marshal?
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And find the other sky marshal.
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I'm a sky marshal, open the door.
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The sky marshal launches Operation March to Victory.
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There's another sky marshal on board.
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The sky marshal ensured the safety of passengers during the flight.
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Passengers were relieved to see a sky marshal onboard as they prepared for takeoff.
Synonyms
7
4.9
A government officer who travels as a passenger to protect people on planes from hijacking
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'sky' (the space overhead / air) combined with 'marshal' (a law-enforcement/security officer) clearly yields an officer who operates in/over the air — i.e. on aircraft. This pattern is similar to cross-linguistic compounds (e.g. 'air marshal') and follows normal English noun + noun composition, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would likely infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Sky marshal comes from the simple image of a marshal, a law officer, in the sky on an airplane. That's why it means 'a police officer who travels on flights to protect passengers'.