Kidnap

//ˈkɪdnæp// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The crime, or an instance, of kidnapping. countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To seize or detain a person unlawfully and move or conceal them; sometimes for ransom. transitive

    "Hello, ladies! How’s the Big Apple? Rotten, Jerry! Clover's been kidnapped! Oh, dear! That's the second time this month!"

  2. 2
    take away to an undisclosed location against their will and usually in order to extract a ransom wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
abductabduceabductcapturecarrycarry away

Antonyms

All antonyms
rescue

Example

More examples

"However men, seeking the contents of that safe, kidnap Hana. And those men were really detectives."

Etymology

From kid + nap (“to nab; to grab”). Originally Thieves' cant, referring to the practice of stealing children and shipping them to colonies or plantations as laborers. First attested c. 1680.

Related phrases

kidnapped robot problemtiger kidnap

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.