Words / B1

KIDN-ap/ˈkɪdnæp/

To kidnap is to take someone away by force and hold them. Kidnapping is the noun (crime). Abduct is a close formal twin. Do not use kidnap for a parent collecting a child from school. County-lines news: gangs may kidnap teenagers.

Meaning

To take someone away by force and hold them, often for money or control.

Examples

• “Police warned that gangs may kidnap teenagers for county lines.”
• “To kidnap is the verb; the charge on the sheet is kidnapping.”

Good to know

kidnap someone (verb). Noun: kidnapping. Formal: abduct. Crime news / county lines. Not a late school pickup.

Near in meaning

abduct

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