booth capturing
n.— «Police said that the deaths and injuries occurred during clashes between rival parties, police gunfire to break up disturbances and incidents of “booth capturing,” a uniquely South Asian election phenomenon in which armed partisan gangs raid a polling station where an election is closely contested and shoot it out until one party takes command of the election boxes.» —“Heavy Voting and Violence Mark Indian Elections” Washington Post Dec. 25, 1984. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...
The English language has been greatly enriched by borrowings from the languages of Asia. Barely scratching the surface, we have from Japan skosh, tycoon, tsunami, origami, yen, kimono, futon, and karaoke. From Chinese comes yen, kowtow, gung ho, and...