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Nab

//næb// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    Initialism of National Australia Bank. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  2. 2
    Initialism of National Association of Broadcasters. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  3. 3
    Abbreviation of National Accountability Bureau. Pakistan, abbreviation, alt-of
Noun
  1. 1
    The summit of a hill.

    "At Clayton point and other nabs to the south of Scarborough."

  2. 2
    The cock of a gunlock.

    "The Toe, or Nab of the Bolt, which rises[…]above the Straight on the Top of the Bolt: The Office of this Nab, is to receive the Bottom of the Bit of the Key, when in turning it about, it shoots the Bolt backward or forwards."

  3. 3
    The keeper, or box into which the lock is shot.

    "the Bottom of the Bit may fall almost to the Bottom of the Nab , and shoot the Bolt back"

Verb
  1. 1
    To seize, arrest or take into custody (a criminal or fugitive). informal, transitive

    "As I was going out of the door, a fellow detective came hurriedly in. "Nabbed them," cried he."

  2. 2
    seize suddenly wordnet
  3. 3
    To grab or snatch something. informal, transitive
  4. 4
    take into custody wordnet
  5. 5
    To steal or copy another user's post. Internet, transitive
Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    tag the base runner to get them out wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

From dialectal nap (“to seize, lay hold of”), probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Swedish nappa (“to pluck, pinch”). Related to Danish nappe (“to tweak, snatch at, catch, seize”), Swedish nappa (“to take, grab, pinch”), Norwegian Bokmål nappe (“to grab, snatch, pluck, yank”).

Etymology 2

Compare knap, knop, knob.

See also for "nab"

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