What does "shanghai" mean?
A breed of chicken with large bodies, long legs, and feathered shanks.
Shanghai
/ˈʃæŋ.haɪ/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A breed of chicken with large bodies, long legs, and feathered shanks.
- Grammar: shanghai is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: abduce, abduct, abduction, blackjack.
- Useful contrasts: consensual, consent, countryside.
- Usage evidence: One hundred and fifty thousand couples are expected to get married in Shanghai in 2006.
How to use "shanghai"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "shanghai" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "shanghai" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "shanghai" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "shanghai" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
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- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "shanghai" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abduce" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "shanghai", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A breed of chicken with large bodies, long legs, and feathered shanks. capitalized, dated, often
"Cochins or Shanghaes."
- 2 Synonym of slingshot. Australia, New-Zealand
"Turn, turn thy shang~hay dread aside, Nor touch that little bird"
- 3 Alternative letter-case form of shanghai in its various senses derived from the Chinese city. alt-of
- 4 A kind of daub. US, obsolete
"The ‘shanghai’ is the glaring daub required by some frame-makers for cheap auctions. They are turned out at so much by the day's labor, or at from $12 to $24 a dozen, by the piece."
- 5 A tall dandy. US, obsolete
Show 1 more definition
- 6 A kind of dart game in which players are gradually eliminated ("shanghaied"), usually either by failing to reach a certain score in 3 quick throws or during a competition to hit a certain prechosen number and then be the first to hit the prechosen numbers of the other players. capitalized, often
"‘Shanghai’ may be played by teams of 8, in pairs, individually, or, in fact, any number."
Verb
- 1 To force or trick someone to go somewhere or do something against their will or interest, particularly transitive
"1974 September 30, ‘Final Report on the Activities of the Children of God', Oftentimes the approach is to shanghai an unsuspecting victim."
- 2 To hit with a slingshot. Australia, New-Zealand
- 3 take (someone) against their will for compulsory service, especially on board a ship wordnet
- 4 To force or trick someone to go somewhere or do something against their will or interest, particularly; To press-gang sailors, especially (historical) for shipping or fishing work. transitive
"By this time I hadn't much doubt of the nature of the trap and the identity of the trapping vessel. The faint smell of alcohol in the forehold told the story. I had been sandbagged and taken aboard a bootlegging craft, shanghaied in good old-fashioned style; and the vessel was probably now on its way to the Bahamas for a cargo of spirits."
- 5 To force or trick someone to go somewhere or do something against their will or interest, particularly; To trick a suspect into entering a jurisdiction in which they can be lawfully arrested. US, slang, transitive
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To force or trick someone to go somewhere or do something against their will or interest, particularly; To transfer a serviceman against their will. US, slang, transitive
"“Why, if you so loved and cherished the armed guard,” Captain Banning continued, “did you arrange for transfer?” “I never, sir! ... But he shanghaied me out of the armed guard pronto.”"
- 7 To commandeer, hijack, or otherwise (usually wrongfully) appropriate a place or thing. transitive
"Let's see if we can shanghai a room for a couple of hours."
Proper Noun
- 1 A major port city and direct-administered municipality of China, the largest urban area in China.
"SHANGHAI (the emporium of Nanking) is the first town of any importance on the coast of Kiangnan province.[…]If, however, these difficulties were surmounted, and suitable precautions taken against existing dangers, the embouchure of this river would be one of the most eligible points for the establishment of British commerce in the whole empire. Be this as it may, however, certain it is that even now Shanghai carries on the greatest native trade of any port on the coast.[…] The city of Shanghai is built on the left bank, some distance from the mouth. It is laid out with sufficient elegance, and numerous temples."
- 2 A major international port including the eastern coast of Shanghai Municipality and the northeastern islands of Zhejiang Province.
Antonyms
Example
"One hundred and fifty thousand couples are expected to get married in Shanghai in 2006."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "shanghai"?
Common synonyms include: abduce, abduct, abduction, blackjack, bludgeon, bulldoze.
How do you use "shanghai" in a sentence?
One hundred and fifty thousand couples are expected to get married in Shanghai in 2006.
How do you pronounce "shanghai"?
Pronounced /ˈʃæŋ.haɪ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
1871, from the important Chinese port Shanghai, as a verb with reference to the former practice by some shippers on the West Coast of the United States of press-ganging crews for fishing or shipping in the Pacific Ocean.
Etymology 2
From Scottish shangan, from Scottish Gaelic seangan, influenced by the Chinese city.
Etymology 3
c. 1840, likely from an English-derived romanization of the Mandarin Chinese pronunciation of Chinese 上海 (Shànghǎi), reinforced by Wade–Giles, Postal Romanization, and Hanyu Pinyin.