kidnap
Americanverb (used with object)
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kidnaps,
present (3rd person singular)
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kidnapped,
past participle, past
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kidnaped,
past participle, past
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kidnapping,
present participle
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kidnaping
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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kidnapeenoun
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kidnapernoun
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kidnappeenoun
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kidnappernoun
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kidnappingnoun
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unkidnapedadjective
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unkidnappedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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kidnapsimple
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kidnapssimple
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have kidnapedperfect
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have kidnappedperfect
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has kidnapedperfect
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has kidnappedperfect
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am kidnapingprogressive
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am kidnappingprogressive
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are kidnapingprogressive
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are kidnappingprogressive
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is kidnapingprogressive
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is kidnappingprogressive
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have been kidnapingperfect progressive
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have been kidnappingperfect progressive
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has been kidnapingperfect progressive
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has been kidnappingperfect progressive
Past
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kidnapedsimple
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kidnappedsimple
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had kidnapedperfect
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had kidnappedperfect
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was kidnapingprogressive
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was kidnappingprogressive
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were kidnapingprogressive
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were kidnappingprogressive
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had been kidnapingperfect progressive
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had been kidnappingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of kidnap
Explanation
To kidnap is to steal a person, or to hold someone as a prisoner until a ransom is paid. The original meaning of kidnap, dating from the late seventeenth century, was "steal children to provide servants to the American colonies," from kid, "child," and nap, "snatch away." After the particularly notorious Lindberg baby kidnapping in 1932, the U.S. Congress passed a law allowing the FBI to investigate all kidnappings. Today the word kidnap includes all abductions, of both children and adults.
Vocabulary lists containing kidnap
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"I thought they were going to kidnap us. I ran to a taco stand to take cover with the people there," Medina told AFP.
From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026
At the same time, bald eagles were rumored to sometimes kidnap human babies and fly away with them in their talons.
From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2026
Wright's legal team had argued that there was insufficient evidence of an attempted kidnap, but a judge ruled against them.
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2026
Beijing would seek to extradite or kidnap him if he were deported to a third country.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 28, 2026
“Don’t tell me you believe in myths of jinn and efrits and wraiths that kidnap children in the night?”
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
When a Frenchman kidnaps a woman from the rival town, his mother and her fellow villagers react with outrage and indignation, less at the abduction itself than at his apparent interest in a German woman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 2026
The Ramayana depicts the victory of Hindu god Ram over the demon king Ravana after the latter kidnaps his wife, Sita.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2023
“This case shows that the Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to track down anyone who kidnaps a U.S. citizen abroad,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
From Seattle Times ● May 10, 2022
Once, the writers wound up with a plotline in which a gorilla, escaped from the Central Park Zoo, kidnaps one of the female leads and takes her to the top of Belvedere Castle.
From New York Times ● Feb. 25, 2022
Sarah and Jack and the clover elves are just about to celebrate their victory over the troll army when an ogre kidnaps Jack and sweeps him off to the hobgoblin king’s castle.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office identified the remains as that of Sharon Lee Gallegos, who was reported kidnaped on July 21, 1960, thanks to advanced DNA technology.
From Fox News ● Mar. 16, 2022
The multi-state search for her and the five-year search for who reportedly kidnaped her diverted resources from other cases, Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson said.
From Fox News ● Mar. 8, 2022
In Baltimore last week, the twosome said that they had been kidnaped by Kim Jong Il, 45, the son of North Korea's strongman Kim Il Sung, 74.
From Time Magazine Archive
But when two West Germans were kidnaped in Beirut a few days after Hamadei's arrest, the government began temporizing.
From Time Magazine Archive
They were certain that he had been kidnaped by Nast.
From The Golden Skull by Harold L. (Harold Leland) Goodwin
He has described himself as a "prisoner of war" and said the US military kidnapped him.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
The court heard that Tajzai, an Afghan asylum seeker, wrongly believed Sherzad belonged to the Taliban, which had kidnapped his father and was suspected of killing him.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
The “Today” show co-host during Tuesday’s broadcast shared a desperate message to those who kidnapped 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie from her Tuscon home in February.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
The distributor explained that the character depicted was a "living mummy" who was returned to her parents as a young adult, many years after having been kidnapped as a child.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
“I guess it’s good Plutarch kidnapped you three after all.”
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
Pankey’s attorney, Anthony Viorst, countered that prosecutors’ circumstantial evidence, Pankey’s overbearing personality and his obsession with “true crime” mysteries is not enough to convict him of kidnaping and murder.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2021
The Foleys also said some responsibility lies with American members of the media who failed to continue reporting on Foley's kidnaping, letting it fall out of the news cycle.
From US News ● Feb. 26, 2015
The U.S. has also resorted to kidnaping of a sort, most famously during the 1985 midair interception of the Achille Lauro hijackers by fighter planes.
From Time Magazine Archive
Press and government frenzy over hostages during the Carter and Reagan administrations probably encouraged kidnaping.
From Time Magazine Archive
He had never been quite sure about Major de Coverley, either, who, when he was not away renting apartments or kidnaping foreign laborers, had nothing more pressing to do than pitch horseshoes.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
A team from the Journal abruptly left Baghdad this month after Iraqi, U.S. and European officials warned of a security threat that American officials later said was a kidnapping risk by a Shiite militia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Three Egyptian security officials have been convicted by a Rome court over the kidnapping of an Italian student whose tortured body was found in Cairo a decade ago.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
Meza told Semana that she was taken by Sarabia's driver to an official building opposite the presidential palace, saying it felt like "a kidnapping".
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
The State Department has the nation of Haiti under a “Level 4 – Do not travel” advisory, due to the relatively high risk of “crime, kidnapping, terrorism, unrest, and limited health care.”
From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2026
Michael O’Laughlen, a twenty-eight-year-old childhood friend of Booth’s, another former Confederate soldier and participant in the kidnapping plot, was also arrested on the seventeenth.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
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