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kidnap

verb, noun — 2 senses

kidnap

verb

/ˈkɪdnæp/ · Northern-England /kɪdˈnæp/

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!2002 September 6, Michelle and Robert Lamoreaux, “Model Citizens”, in Totally Spies!, season 1, episode 9, spoken by Alexandra “Alex” (Jess Harnell as Jerry and Katie Leigh), Marathon Media, via Teletoon:
  • Angrest, a soldier, was kidnapped from his tank at the Nahal Oz base when it was attacked by Hamas.2025 March 7, ToI staff, JTA, “The next 24: These are the remaining hostages presumed alive in Gaza”, in The Times of Israel, archived from the original on 03 Aug 2025:
Derived terms
antikidnap, dognap, dognapper, dognapping, kidnappable, kidnapped robot problem, rekidnap, tiger kidnap, unkidnap

kidnap

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.

Related terms
kidnapper, kidnaper, kidnappee, kidnapee

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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