hijacking 1 of 2

noun

variants also highjacking
as in kidnapping
the unlawful or forcible carrying away of a person or animal a country in which hijackings of foreign executives has become commonplace

Synonyms & Similar Words

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hijacking

2 of 2

verb

variants also highjacking
present participle of hijack
as in commandeering
to take control of (a vehicle) by force some loser tried to hijack the plane with a toy gun

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hijacking
Noun
Delron Pickens, of Independence, was charged with one count of vehicle hijacking and one count of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child in Jackson County Circuit Court on Sunday. — Nathan Pilling, Kansas City Star, 19 Oct. 2026 The harrowing but ultimately hopeful story of the FlyDubai airline hijacking incident last month is being developed as a narrative film by Dori Media Group and India’s Sphereorigin. — Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 15 Oct. 2026 Direct flights between the two countries were suspended in 1985 by the Reagan administration after the hijacking of TWA Flight 847. — ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026 Police are asking the public for help identifying a man believed to be a suspect in a motorcycle hijacking. — Dan Raby, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026 An official confirmed that Israel had scrambled warplanes, fearing a hijacking. — Arkansas Online, 1 Oct. 2026 Yair Lapid, the Israeli opposition leader, said he had been briefed by Netanyahu on Tuesday night but that Netanyahu did not mention anything or even hint at a potential hijacking plot. — Gerry Shih, Washington Post, 1 Oct. 2026 The aircraft issued a general distress call before switching to a code signaling a hijacking. — Mohammed Sergie, semafor.com, 1 Oct. 2026 Security training Current TSA regulations require recurrent security training for flight crew and cabin crew members, which includes self-defense training and exercises on how to handle a hijacking. — Jeff Price, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2026
Verb
Even the risk of hijacking raw computing power on chips is not new. — Peter Hall, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2026 These viruses, known as retroviruses, insert a DNA copy of their RNA sequence into the host cell’s genome, hijacking the cell’s resources to reproduce themselves. — Jake Buehler, Quanta Magazine, 21 Sep. 2026 Over the weekend, ShinyHunters boasted about hijacking and defacing CLOP’s site on the dark web with an image of a Pokémon. — Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 21 Sep. 2026 It's been 25 years since al-Qaida terrorists attacked the United States by hijacking four commercial airplanes and crashing them into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. — September 9, NPR, 9 Sep. 2026 But since they’re still required by the rules to play all 27 outs, the Phillies just keep hijacking these Weird and Wild columns. — Jayson Stark, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026 Which in a very real sense signals long-time Fed efforts to expand its own purpose by hijacking inflation. — John Tamny, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026 The longtime Adult Swim mischief-maker behind the viral hits ‘Too Many Cooks’ and ‘Yule Log’ specializes in hijacking familiar media formats, revealing the sinister anxieties beneath them. — Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026 Visible signs of body-hijacking mental illness drive Ingrid to a grisly suicide in the bathroom that her daughter is forced to witness. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 19 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hijacking
  1. kidnapping
  2. commandeering
  3. abduction
  4. seizing
  5. rape
Noun
  • Haiti’s government described the incident as a kidnapping and said the search for the technicians was its top priority.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Investigators say that surveillance video of the kidnapping shows a man wearing black gloves getting out of the same vehicle.
    — Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of kidnapping
Verb
  • That doesn't mean hackers are now commandeering cars by the millions.
    — Mike McRae October 20, New Atlas, 21 Oct. 2026
  • This leads to River commandeering a woman’s car and inadvertently gaining a partner in her dog Monty, who doesn’t figure into the action but is most assuredly a Very Good Boy.
    — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of commandeering
Noun
  • The International Criminal Court in 2023 issued an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Other theories about Madeleine’s disappearance include a botched robbery that resulted in her murder or an abduction by human traffickers.
    — Frannie Comstock, Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of abduction
Verb
  • Banks in New York are seizing the opportunity to offer a solution that could shield Chinese customers from their country's tax man.
    — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Even rarer is a series seizing on the opportunity to make a quantum leap several years into its run.
    — Alison Herman, Variety, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of seizing
Noun
  • The twins also face two pending rape cases in Florida state court.
    — Kara Scannell, CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Comparing the administration's fight to protect women and women's spaces from males to rape, is utterly disgusting and actually devalues those atrocities and crimes against actual women.
    — Jon Root OutKick, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of rape

Browse Nearby Words

hijackers
hijacking
hijackings
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Cite this Entry

“Hijacking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hijacking. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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