shanghai
verb (used with object)
to enroll or obtain (a sailor) for the crew of a ship by unscrupulous means, as by force or the use of liquor or drugs.
shanghai
1 American
[shang-hahy, shang-hahy]
/ ˈʃæŋ haɪ, ʃæŋˈhaɪ /
verb (used with object)
Nautical.
-
shanghais,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shanghaied,
past participle, past
-
shanghaiing
present participle
Shanghai
2
American
[shang-hahy, shahng-hahy]
/ ʃæŋˈhaɪ, ˈʃɑŋˈhaɪ /
noun
-
Pinyin, Wade-Giles. a seaport and municipality in E China, near the mouth of the Chang Jiang.
-
a type of long-legged chicken believed to be of Asian origin.
shanghai
1
British
/ ˈʃæŋhaɪ, ʃæŋˈhaɪ /
verb
-
to kidnap (a man or seaman) for enforced service at sea, esp on a merchant ship
-
to force or trick (someone) into doing something, going somewhere, etc
-
to shoot with a catapult
noun
Shanghai
2
British
/ ˈʃæŋˈhaɪ /
noun
Shanghai
Cultural
Discover More
Shanghai is the most populous city in Asia.
Opened to foreign trade by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, Shanghai became a treaty port administered by Britain, the United States, and France until World War II.
It is one of the world's great seaports.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
shanghaisimple
-
shanghaissimple
-
have shanghaiedperfect
-
has shanghaiedperfect
-
am shanghaiingprogressive
-
are shanghaiingprogressive
-
is shanghaiingprogressive
-
have been shanghaiingperfect progressive
-
has been shanghaiingperfect progressive
Past
-
shanghaiedsimple
-
had shanghaiedperfect
-
was shanghaiingprogressive
-
were shanghaiingprogressive
-
had been shanghaiingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shanghai
First recorded in 1855–60; after Shanghai
Explanation
To shanghai someone is to kidnap or trick them into working for you. The traditional way to shanghai someone is to drug him and put him on a ship. When the person wakes up, he better get to work. This term popped up in the 19th century. The captain of a boat would shanghai people when his ship was short on labor. The shanghaied person would wake up and find himself at sea, often on a long trip like to Shanghai, China. The term is also used for similar, non-naval abductions. If you trick your best friend into coming home with you so she can do your chores, you shanghai her.
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:
A schemer and her henchmen shanghai two book salesmen for a diamond safari in Africa.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2020
Glassy-eyed conductors shanghai hapless passengers from the curb into shuddering minibuses that zigzag through lines of cars, sometimes even jumping up on the sidewalk.
From New York Times ● Jul. 15, 2014
Job scouts from cabarets, electronic plants and weaving mills virtually shanghai girl caddies off the golf courses.
From Time Magazine Archive
He wanders into the waterfront dive run by Milly, a "shark" who helps shanghai drunken sailors into freighter crews.
From Time Magazine Archive
Brian had taken such a powerful dislike to Ginger that I realized she must have done something more than shanghai his comic book.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
"People used to compare who had spent more," dance teacher Yuan told AFP at a new retail space in central Shanghai filled with luxury handbags, belts and jewellery items -- all second hand.
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026
Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Bangkok and Jakarta were also deep in negative territory, though there were gains in Wellington, Mumbai and Manila.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
His withdrawal overshadowed preparations for the event in Shanghai, though Britain's women did secure silver in the team sprint.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
“Dating and being in a relationship is an emotional matter, but getting married and having kids is a financial one,” said Zhang, who is from Jiangsu province north of Shanghai.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
I wasn’t looking forward to seeing her, and by eleven-thirty on Friday as I headed up to Alterations, I was ready for Shanghai Chic to be over.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Home was, alas! no longer the snug nest in which she was safe from the slings and shanghais of the world.
From The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson
One may have said that the bantams of the honored guest were not perhaps as small as some other bantams, but that the colossal size of his shanghais was beyond parallel.
From Imaginary Interviews by William Dean Howells
Once at the embassy she could be shanghaied back to Hong Kong or China.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
Nalini, newly arrived aboard the shanghaied ship, serves as the outsider-observer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2022
“He argues that he is not a free rider on a bus headed for a destination that he wishes to reach but is more like a person shanghaied for an unwanted voyage.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2018
The ways in which our attention gets shanghaied by these companies makes us less good as citizens.
From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2017
Me and Katherine still wear our finery from the night we were shanghaied, and these things I’m wearing are for looking pretty, not strolling through a frontier town.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
With the Napoleonic wars raging across Europe, the British navy had taken to shanghaiing Americans in foreign ports and at sea to fill out its wartime fleets.
From Time ● Jun. 18, 2012
The army's recent practice of shanghaiing young conscripts off the streets is not likely to generate goodwill -- or good soldiers.
From Time Magazine Archive
I asked Alexander Rekunkov, the deputy procurator-general, "Why didn't you send a summons instead of shanghaiing me?"
From Time Magazine Archive
But I don't know whether the attempted shanghaiing of Ruth was premeditated or not.
From Fire Mountain A Thrilling Sea Story by Norman Springer
Tom Mowbray had proved his power by shanghaiing him aboard the Etna!
From Those Who Smiled And Eleven Other Stories by Perceval Gibbon
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