highjack
[hahy-jak]
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hijack
or high·jack
[hahy-jak]
- to steal (cargo) from a truck or other vehicle after forcing it to stop: to hijack a load of whiskey.
- to rob (a vehicle) after forcing it to stop: They hijacked the truck before it entered the city.
- to seize (a vehicle) by force or threat of force.
- to skyjack.
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- to engage in such stealing or seizing.
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- an act or instance or hijacking.
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Origin of hijack
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
wrestpreemptsupplantannexcommandeerseizeassumearrogateswipedisplaceappropriatetakegrabhighjackaccroachhighjack
- a less common spelling of hijack
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hijack
highjack
- (tr) to seize, divert, or appropriate (a vehicle or the goods it carries) while in transitto hijack an aircraft
- to rob (a person or vehicle) by forceto hijack a traveller
- (esp in the US during Prohibition) to rob (a bootlegger or smuggler) of his illicit goods or to steal (illicit goods) in transit
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- the act or an instance of hijacking
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Word Origin
C20: of unknown origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for highjack
hijack
v.
1922, American English, perhaps from high(way) + jacker "one who holds up." Originally "to rob (a bootlegger, smuggler, etc.) in transit;" sense of "seizing an aircraft in flight" is 1968 (also in 1961 variant skyjack), extended 1970s to any form of public transportation. Related: Hijacked; hijacking.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper