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
It is not clear when Emily's attempted kidnap was first linked to Victoria's case.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026
When Bin Salman first came to prominence as Saudi defense minister in 2015, he espoused a pugilistic foreign policy that saw him launch the unsuccessful offensive on the Houthis and kidnap Lebanon’s prime minister.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 20, 2026
And then to the friars: "You wicked wizards, you won't be able to kidnap that lovely princess and her lovely ladies in waiting!"
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
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
A changeling is what a fairy or demon or troll leaves behind when it kidnaps a human baby.
From New York Times ● Sep. 15, 2023
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
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 early 1985 the CIA was desperate to rescue William Buckley, its station chief in Beirut who had been kidnaped.
From Time Magazine Archive
Meese came away satisfied, he said, that there will be no future deal to exchange Hamadei for the kidnaped West Germans.
From Time Magazine Archive
"When the Duke avowed himself to be kidnaped, he committed an error so grave that it can hardly be—overestimated."
From The Lighted Match by R. F. Schabelitz
He has described himself as a "prisoner of war" and said the US military kidnapped him.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 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
"There is fear because many residents have run away and are yet to return," says the traditional ruler of the area, Oba Tajudeen Abioye, whose niece was among the kidnapped children.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Kevin Rideout - who was kidnapped outside his home in Niger's capital Niamey last year - was "in good health in the care of US officials", SIM International said in a statement on Friday.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
“So the mission is this: Find the Ocarrion, and seize it. If the kidnapped orphans are already on board, we free ’em and commandeer the Ocarrion back to port.”
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
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
On Main Street, for instance, stands the 1828 Greek-revival Hunterdon County courthouse, famous as the site of the sensational 1935 trial of Bruno Hauptmann, who was convicted of kidnaping and killing aviator Charles Lindbergh's baby.
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
After all, their attitude toward him so far made him feel that they did not consider him as being mixed up in the kidnapping.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
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.
