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.
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
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.
First recorded in 1855–60; after Shanghai
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.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
China and Pakistan's foreign ministers called Friday for the US and Iran to stop fighting and resume talks, according to a statement following a meeting in Shanghai.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Readers looking for a cultural history of Shanghai, however, will need to look elsewhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Shanghai dipped as data showed China's economy grew slower than expected in the second quarter.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
Organizers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are expecting to secure a memorandum of understanding from prospective members to launch the bank in August, ahead of a leaders’ summit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
I sighed, thinking back to the Shanghai Chic show.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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 Howells, William Dean
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 Richardson, Henry Handel
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
Premise Kelly Clarkson’s daughter falls asleep and somehow gets shanghaied into some sort of adventure with Santa Claus.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 8, 2018
I consider trying to catch part of the show, but am afraid that if I cross the lot I’ll get shanghaied into some other task.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
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
I asked Alexander Rekunkov, the deputy procurator-general, "Why didn't you send a summons instead of shanghaiing me?"
From Time Magazine Archive
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
"No more shanghaiing hair pants for me, no more!" thickly replied Portsmouth.
From Bar-20 Days by Mulford, Clarence Edward
And shanghaiing, to use a modern term, was not unknown.
From Religious Life of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century The Faith of Our Fathers by Brydon, G. MacLaren (George MacLaren)
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.
