kidnap

verb

ˈkid-ˌnap How to pronounce kidnap (audio)
Definition of kidnapnext
as in to abduct
to carry away (as a person) forcibly or unlawfully the child of the wealthy industrialist was kidnapped and held for ransom

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 kidnap More than 230 people were kidnapped and more than 1,000 females were raped. — Widlore Mérancourt, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2026 She was kidnapped in Niger’s Agadez city in January last year, months before the Swiss citizen was abducted in the same city in April 2025. — ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026 The toys were not purloined, kidnapped, auctioned by Sotheby's or flipped by greedy collectors on eBay. — Steve Hendrix The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 21 Oct. 2026 According to multiple reports, ransom notes were sent to local media outlets just days after she was kidnapped from her Arizona home. — Allison Degrushe, StyleCaster, 19 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for kidnap
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kidnap
abduct
Verb
  • Sacrifice is a Netflix original movie starring Chris Evans as an actor working on his comeback who gets abducted by an environmental group led by Anya Taylor-Joy.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Investigators say he had been abducted, driven to another county, and brutally killed.
    — Dan Raby, CBS News, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of abduct

Browse Nearby Words

kid-gloved
kidnap
kidnapped
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Cite this Entry

“Kidnap.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kidnap. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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