hijack
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to steal (cargo) from a truck or other vehicle after forcing it to stop.
to hijack a load of whiskey.
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to rob (a vehicle) after forcing it to stop.
They hijacked the truck before it entered the city.
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to seize (a vehicle) by force or threat of force.
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to skyjack.
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
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(tr) to seize, divert, or appropriate (a vehicle or the goods it carries) while in transit
to hijack an aircraft
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to rob (a person or vehicle) by force
to hijack a traveller
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(esp in the US during Prohibition) to rob (a bootlegger or smuggler) of his illicit goods or to steal (illicit goods) in transit
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hijacksimple
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hijackssimple
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have hijackedperfect
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has hijackedperfect
-
am hijackingprogressive
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are hijackingprogressive
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is hijackingprogressive
-
have been hijackingperfect progressive
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has been hijackingperfect progressive
Past
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hijackedsimple
-
had hijackedperfect
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was hijackingprogressive
-
were hijackingprogressive
-
had been hijackingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hijack
An Americanism dating back to 1920–25; back formation from hijacker
Explanation
To hijack a vehicle is to take control of it by force. Chances are you've seen an action movie in which some villains hijack a car or plane. To hijack a vehicle is to take it over illegally. Such a crime is called a hijack or a hijacking. Hijack can be used more generally to mean “take over.” If your friend has a bad habit of interrupting other people to talk about himself, you can say that he tends to hijack the conversation.
Vocabulary lists containing hijack
President Obama's U.N. Address
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Towers Falling
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Mid-Air
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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.
McKinney’s sudden emergence in the race in May saw him hijack the incumbent’s support from law enforcement.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
Baseball let Netflix hijack its season opener with goofy wrestlers and dancers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
"A youth movement will be more effective when internal divisions are minimal, there is ideological plurality without antagonism, and there are few established parties that can easily hijack the movement's results."
From BBC • Apr. 5, 2026
"They hijack the machinery that makes proteins, disrupt the 'postal service' that sends messages between different parts of the cell, and disable the defenses that normally protect us from infection."
From Science Daily • Nov. 5, 2025
Now I’m letting my life hijack these other lives for a day.
From "Every Day" by David Levithan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
