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kidnap

verb

  1. to abduct people, take people away a gainst their will
  2. to seize and detain unlawfully
L307832 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈkɪdnæp/ / /kɪdˈnæp/

noun

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.

  1. The crime, or an instance, of kidnapping.

verb

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.

  1. To seize or detain a person unlawfully and move or conceal them; sometimes for ransom.

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

    Angrest, a soldier, was kidnapped from his tank at the Nahal Oz base when it was attacked by Hamas.