as in to kidnap
to carry away (as a person) forcibly or unlawfully
the gangsters planned to abduct the industrialist's young daughter and demand a huge ransom from her family
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Recent Examples of abduct
With the help of the lead detective assigned to their case (Michael Peña), the Irvines quickly deduce that Milo was likely abducted by Carrie Finch (Sophia Lillis), the 21-year-old nanny of Marissa’s new friend Jenny (Dakota Fanning), a publishing executive.
—
Alison Herman, Variety, 6 Nov. 2025
Around 500 Hamas terrorists stormed the kibbutz, killing 47 people and taking 76 hostages out of the 251 abducted across Israel that day.
—Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 4 Nov. 2025
In early August, Jake and Rebecca Haro told authorities that Emmanuel had been abducted following an attack on Rebecca in a parking lot.
—Robert Birsel, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
The reason for Emma Stone’s bald head, Bugonia stars Stone as a pharmaceutical CEO who is abducted by conspiracy-theorist cousins Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and Don (Aidan Delbis).
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 1 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for abduct
Alison Herman, Variety, 6 Nov. 2025
Around 500 Hamas terrorists stormed the kibbutz, killing 47 people and taking 76 hostages out of the 251 abducted across Israel that day.
—Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 4 Nov. 2025
In early August, Jake and Rebecca Haro told authorities that Emmanuel had been abducted following an attack on Rebecca in a parking lot.
—Robert Birsel, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
The reason for Emma Stone’s bald head, Bugonia stars Stone as a pharmaceutical CEO who is abducted by conspiracy-theorist cousins Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and Don (Aidan Delbis).
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 1 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for abduct
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abduct
kidnap
Verb
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Every single person who's arrived has talked about violence, about dead bodies, about people being killed, about people being kidnapped, about people being kept hostage.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 Nov. 2025
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The fourth is a Thai citizen who was kidnapped during the attack.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
9 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Abduct.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abduct. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.
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