NABBED Synonyms: 95 Similar and Opposite Words

nabbed

verb

past tense of nab

as in arrested

to take or keep under one's control by authority of law the officer nabbed the purse snatcher before he could escape

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in grabbed

to take physical control or possession of (something) suddenly or forcibly a pickpocket nabbed my wallet

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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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 nabbed Harris looks to have nabbed the open starting job beside Deablo. — Josh Kendall, New York Times, 23 June 2026 Colman Domingo and Harrison Ford both nabbed slots last year for their charming comedic turns. — Rebecca Ford, Vanity Fair, 25 June 2026 The year was 1966, when the then-15-year-old high school sophomores had just nabbed a record contract after winning a battle of the bands at a Des Plaines drive-in theater. — Chris Placek, Chicago Tribune, 27 June 2026 Terrell Jarrett, 37, was nabbed by officers who recognized him from surveillance photos early Friday. — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 19 June 2026 Zarate was arrested at an apartment in Bellflower, while Acosta Serrano and the female minor were nabbed in a Huntington Beach apartment. — Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2026 That turned his first-round matchup into a walkover for 10th-place finisher Alex Bowman, who nabbed the 32nd and final seed in the In-Season Challenge despite missing four races with vertigo. — ABC News, 28 June 2026 The Best Prime Day AirTag Deal The first-gen Apple AirTag nabbed our Editors' Choice award for the best Bluetooth tracker at the time of its release. — Cierra Cowan, PC Magazine, 26 June 2026 Brown also nabbed two Teen Choice Award wins for Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress and Choice Summer TV Star for Stranger Things in 2018 and 2019, respectively. — Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE, 30 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for nabbed

Verb

There was briefly some concern earlier this year that Chestnut wouldn’t be able to participate in the 2026 competition after he was arrested for allegedly slapping a man in an Indiana bar.

— Kyla Guilfoil, NBC news, 5 July 2026
Authorities have arrested more than a half dozen people related in relation to Reflecting Pool damage, including former Olympian David Hearn, who was indicted last week on a felony of property destruction.

— Steve Peoples, Fortune, 5 July 2026

Definition of arrested

Verb

When Kennedy approached the rider and grabbed the handlebars to check whether the bike was registered, the rider refused to get off and allegedly tried to pull away.

— Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 2 July 2026
Maura Higgins, breakout star of The Traitors, grabbed her best tennis whites to ace the style assignment at Wimbledon 2026.

— Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 1 July 2026

Definition of grabbed

Verb

Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who voted against the proposal in mid-June, voiced fears that the list of noncitizen voters would immediately be seized by federal immigration authorities.

— Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 4 July 2026
Meanwhile, Russia’s military on Saturday claimed to have seized the city of Kostiantynivka, a key defensive hub in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

— Patrick Reevell, ABC News, 4 July 2026

Definition of seized

Verb

While once exclusive to skateboarders for their ease of movement, thanks to a crop of particular designers’ spring/summer 2026 collections—from Dries Van Noten, to Khaite and TWP—they’ve caught the eye of the fashion set, too.

— Cortne Bonilla, Vogue, 2 July 2026
The circular logic of it would be darkly comic if tens of thousands of livelihoods weren't caught in the middle.

— Jemma Green, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026

Definition of caught

Verb

Your rich location history and device data get snatched up regularly in such fences by private companies; your present and past self travels through them constantly.

— Anne Toomey McKenna, The Conversation, 30 June 2026
But the fear of being snatched by ICE agents remains, Neel said.

— Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 26 June 2026

Definition of snatched

Verb

The beautiful Grace Kelly captured the world's attention and imagination (and still does) for decades, but no one was more enamored by the actress than Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

— Freya Drohan, InStyle, 30 June 2026
The exchange was captured by Redman’s body camera footage during a stop involving immigrants.

— AJ Willingham, AJC.com, 30 June 2026

Definition of captured

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“Nabbed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nabbed. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of nabbed

verb

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