verb / noun
kidnap
KID-nap/ˈkɪdnæp/
The unlawful taking and holding of a person by force or deception.
The attacker kidnaps a resisting adult by forcibly pulling the captive toward the van.
Etymology
Kid plus nap literally describes snatching a child. The word originally referred to stealing children for labor in the American colonies, then broadened to the abduction of people of any age.
In context
it was to kidnap him. He could use Lincoln as a captive to force the North to surrender
More examples
- Police rescue a child who was kidnapped outside school.
- The criminals kidnap travelers and demand money for their release.
- She faces charges for kidnapping her former employer.
Forms
kidnap · kidnaps · kidnapped · kidnapping
kidnapper noun — Someone who unlawfully takes another person captive.
Similar words
- abduct
- Emphasizes taking people away unlawfully rather than holding them.
- capture
- Means taking someone prisoner, not necessarily unlawfully.