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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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for September 21–September 27, 2024
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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:
Wrote another, of the scammers: They “basically psychologically kidnap you.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
"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
“They’re not going to kidnap my district here without a battle,” LaMalfa, 65, said Tuesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2025
“She didn’t kidnap me,” Scoob says with more slice in his tone than he intends.
From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone
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
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 B. Garland said in a statement.
From New York Times ● May 10, 2022
“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
The deal promptly increased pressure on the Administration to negotiate freedom for the kidnaped Americans being held hostage in Lebanon.
From Time Magazine Archive
In Beirut, meanwhile, West German Businessman Rudolf Cordes, kidnaped 20 months ago as a direct result of Hammadi's capture, was suddenly released.
From Time Magazine Archive
I am not the vulgar intriguer you suppose—I merely kidnaped that charming——" "If you refuse," interrupted Winifred with basilisk eyes, "I shall ring for Forbes and have you turned out of the house at once.
From The Gay Adventure A Romance by Richard Bird
When one of Christopher’s cohorts is kidnapped and held for ransom, he and the former princess Anya Argen embark on a desperate quest to complete the kidnappers’ challenges and win their friend’s safety.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Plummer’s Getty is imperious and withholding, refusing to pay the ransom for his kidnapped grandson and seemingly puzzled that anyone would expect him to.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Nigeria's security forces have recorded a recent success in rescuing kidnapped victims.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
Special Forces in a dramatic military operation in January, told the judge that he had been kidnapped and was a prisoner of war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
“I guess it’s good Plutarch kidnapped you three after all.”
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
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
But U.S. officials considered Gonzalez trustworthy: as Jalisco's top homicide detective for Guadalajara, Gonzalez had been investigating the Camarena kidnaping and the disappearance of six other Americans in recent months.
From Time Magazine Archive
Hamadei, 29, is charged with kidnaping West Germans Rudolf Cordes and Alfred Schmidt in Beirut a year ago.
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
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
Despite its globe-trotting kidnapping plot, much of the movie’s tension comes down to people in rooms trying to persuade an old man to part with his money.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
David Stivers, was reprimanded two months before Nancy’s kidnapping for “poor judgment,” blamed for delays securing crime-scene evidence in a homicide case, personnel records from a public-records request show.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
US television star journalist Savannah Guthrie made an emotional appeal Saturday for anyone with information about her mother's disappearance to come forward, saying "we are begging for help" six months after the kidnapping took place.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
What could make a better story than his own kidnapping?
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
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.
