to arrest or capture.
to catch or seize, especially suddenly.
to snatch or steal.
to arrest
to catch (someone) in wrongdoing
to seize suddenly; snatch
1675–85; earlier nap; perhaps < Scandinavian; compare Danish nappe, Norwegian, Swedish nappa to snatch
When you nab someone, you catch the person in the act of doing something wrong. A police officer, for example, might say that she loves to nab shoplifters. You nab when you apprehend a bad guy, or when you suddenly grab something: "Hey, you can't just nab a slice of pizza off my plate!" It's most common to use nab when a criminal is caught, as when the FBI nabs a suspected terrorist or an officer nabs a would-be graffiti artist. Nab probably came from an earlier word, nap, "to seize or catch," which is now obsolete except in the word kidnap.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Retailers use facial recognition technology to more easily nab shoplifters.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2026
That enthusiasm is helping upstarts nab much higher valuations than they could get on the private markets, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026
Last year, they traded for a late first-round selection to nab quarterback Jaxson Dart, who showed promise as a rookie.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
Her constituents think it's her seat, but she admits: "It's only my seat because I'm there early enough to nab it."
From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026
“I knew they’d nab us one day!” said Dozer.
From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein
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.
