abduct

[ab-duhkt]

verb (used with object)

1. to carry off or lead away (a person) illegally and in secret or by force, especially to kidnap.

2. Physiology.,  to move or draw away from the axis of the body or limb (adduct ).

abduct

/ æbˈdʌkt /

verb

1. to remove (a person) by force or cunning; kidnap

2. (of certain muscles) to pull (a leg, arm, etc) away from the median axis of the body Compare adduct

Other Word Forms

• unabducted adjective
• abductor noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of abduct¹

1825–35; < Latin abductus, past participle of abdūcere to abduce

Word History and Origins

Origin of abduct¹

C19: from the past participle of Latin abdūcere to lead away

Example Sentences

They say former members of the dictator's regime were being targeted with unlawful killings, kidnappings and torture when Mas'ud was abducted from his home by armed men the following year.

Read more on BBC

Federal troops are wreaking havoc in the streets, people are being abducted and sent to prison camps — or disappeared entirely — and the military is executing orders to murder foreign civilians on the high seas.

Read more on Salon

"My youngest daughter - she was 14 at the time - came screaming that she had seen her brother being abducted on Instagram," she recalled.

Read more on BBC

Peaches died early in this downhill slide, but now Cliff is gone too, having been abducted and tortured by the gang.

Read more on Salon

The text was every parent’s worst nightmare: A 17-year-old said he had been abducted, shot and wounded by a group of men on a Florida highway.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• kidnap 
• seize 
• snatch