boarding
noun
Boarding — the act of stepping aboard a ship or aircraft before departure
Definition
The act of passengers and crew getting aboard a ship or aircraft
In depth
Boarding is the act of passengers and crew getting aboard a ship or aircraft, the necessary procedure preceding any voyage, in which travelers formally enter the vessel that will carry them. The word also names, distinctly, the older sense of forcibly entering an enemy ship during naval combat, a more violent counterpart to the routine modern travel procedure.
Origin
The word descends from 'board,' originally meaning a plank or the side of a ship, from Old English bord. To board a vessel was, etymologically, to come alongside its very planks, an image of physical proximity and contact that remains, however faintly, present in the modern routine act of boarding a plane or ship.
Usage examples
"Boarding began nearly an hour before the scheduled departure, the line already stretching well past the gate."
"Naval histories describe the boarding of the enemy vessel as a chaotic, hand-to-hand struggle across the slick deck."
"She always found boarding the most anxious part of any trip, the brief uncertainty before finally settling into her seat."
How to use it
Boarding is plain, everyday vocabulary in modern travel writing, while its older naval combat sense survives mainly in historical or adventure fiction, where context alone distinguishes the routine procedure from the more dramatic, violent meaning.
Related concepts
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