abduct
verb (used with object)
to carry off or lead away (a person) illegally and in secret or by force, especially to kidnap.
had abducted
-
past perfectof abduct.past perfect
Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
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.
The U.S. discovered that in 2003, when a team of almost two dozen agents who had abducted an Egyptian cleric in Italy for secret interrogation was outed by analysis of their local cellphone records.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
Maddox represented Tawana Brawley, a Black teenager who claimed that a group of white men had abducted and raped her in 1987.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 25, 2023
Last year, the United Nations’ Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled that the Rwandan government had abducted Mr. Rusesabagina and arbitrarily detained him.
From New York Times ● Mar. 27, 2023
Her father, Anthony, told Dateline NBC in May he believed someone had abducted his daughter.
From Fox News ● Aug. 28, 2021
I wished I knew how to make Diego believe me; I wished the aliens had abducted him, too, so we could have watched the stars together.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
