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Shanghai
Definitions
- 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.
- 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
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- 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."
- 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
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- 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."
Etymology
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.
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.
From Scottish shangan, from Scottish Gaelic seangan, influenced by the Chinese city.
From Scottish shangan, from Scottish Gaelic seangan, influenced by the Chinese city.
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.
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.
See also for "shanghai"
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