Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An unofficial system of transporting supplies and people, especially refugees, from one country to another by boats.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The (often clandestine) transportation of a large number of people or goods by
boat , especially anexodus of people. - noun A mechanism for lifting
boats from the water, or between water on different elevations.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Several foreign-policy experts called the boatlift an act of migratory aggression.
Babalú Blog: an island on the net without a bearded dictator 2009
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And at this point we have no evidence to suggest that there is any kind of boatlift, that there's any kind of activity on the ground that would lead us to believe that that's imminent.
Dee Dee Myers Press Briefing ITY National Archives 1994
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The letter rejected concerns that granting TPS would cause a massive "boatlift" and bring thousands of Haitians to the United States, arguing that TPS is only available to Haitian nationals already in the United States at the time of the designation.
Spero News 2008
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Some observers argue that granting TPS to Haiti would cause a massive "boatlift" that would bring thousands of Haitians to the United States.
Spero News 2008
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The story of the 9/11 boatlift is a reminder of the sense of shared purpose and resilience that pervaded New York - and the world - in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.
Tom Hanks Narrates 'BOATLIFT,' Honors Untold 9/11 Story Of Mariner Heroes (VIDEO) 2011
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There's some diversity of positions among Cubans and Cuban Americans due to their experiences: those who arrived here more than 50 years ago; those who came in stages during the Mariel boatlift and similar efforts; those who have recently arrived; and the generations born here in the United States, whose politics tend to be more moderate.
Maribel Hastings: In Florida, Romney Finds the "Lucky Corner" Maribel Hastings 2012
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You might think that economists and economic journalists like Lowenstein would remember the highly memorable 1983 movie Scarface, with Al Pacino playing Tony “Say hello to my little friend” Montana, a Mariel boatlift refugee who becomes the kingpin of the Miami cocaine rackets.
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There's some diversity of positions among Cubans and Cuban Americans due to their experiences: those who arrived here more than 50 years ago; those who came in stages during the Mariel boatlift and similar efforts; those who have recently arrived; and the generations born here in the United States, whose politics tend to be more moderate.
Maribel Hastings: In Florida, Romney Finds the "Lucky Corner" Maribel Hastings 2012
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One month after the beginning of Mariel boatlift, the black Liberty City slum erupted over a police brutality case (with two of six cops charged being Hispanic).
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In "Scarface," fictional Tony Montana, who gave the real Mariel boatlift exiles a bad name, delivered one of his capitalist rants beside the pool here.
Take Monday Off: Cuban Miami Matt Schwartz 2011
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