as in to abduct
to carry away (as a person) forcibly or unlawfully the child of the wealthy industrialist was kidnapped and held for ransom

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of kidnap Emma Stone's getting kidnapped. Brian Truitt, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2025 In the years leading up to the general election in 1999, my parents locked us in the house—the one-bedroom apartment on Ogunleye Street where my elder sister and I were born—because children were being kidnapped for money rituals. Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025 In December, a married couple was kidnapped by a group of undocumented migrants in their Aurora, Colorado, apartment complex. Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2025 Hawley waited until the start of the fifth season to lean all the way into the comparison, by borrowing the movie’s inciting incident where a Minnesota Nice housewife is kidnapped by two goons — one hapless, one relentless and seemingly mystical. Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for kidnap
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kidnap
abduct
Verb
  • In the following months, they were seized at bus and train stations, beaten at a hospital and abducted by ambulance.
    Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 9 Sep. 2025
  • The attack killed nearly 1,200 Israelis and abducted 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
    Amira El-Fekki‎, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Kidnap.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kidnap. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.

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