shanghaied; shanghaiing
1
a
: to put aboard a ship by force often with the help of liquor or a drug
b
: to put by force or threat of force into or as if into a place of detention
2
: to put by trickery into an undesirable position
Examples of shanghai in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
They’re shanghaied by Witchiepoo (Billie Hayes), basically evil but also adorable, to Living Island — the witch wants Freddy — where trees walk and objects talk and the mayor is the title character, a friendly dragon.
—
Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 2023
Some historians believe, as The Oregonian/OregonLive has reported, that the tunnels weren’t actually used to shanghai -- that is, abduct men and force them to join a ship’s crew.
—oregonlive, 26 Mar. 2020
The musical comedy is filled with zany pirates, zombie ships, mermaids and the plot revolves around a bumbling actor and his crew getting shanghaied by the terror of the high seas.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 July 2019
To shanghai your wife into a mental health intervention would be a mistake.
—Y Jeanne Phillips, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Feb. 2018
That prompts the secretly protective Madea to shanghai Joe and the equally outrageous old-timers Hattie (Patrice Lovely) and Bam (Cassi Davis) for a trip to the lake to bring Tiffany back.
—Mike Scott, NOLA.com, 20 Oct. 2017
The ways in which our attention gets shanghaied by these companies makes us less good as citizens.
—Isaac Chotiner, Slate Magazine, 5 Oct. 2017
The idea of a summertime art festival has been shanghaied by the nonprofit Art Shanty Project.
—Bob Shaw, Twin Cities, 6 Jan. 2017
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Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 2023
Some historians believe, as The Oregonian/OregonLive has reported, that the tunnels weren’t actually used to shanghai -- that is, abduct men and force them to join a ship’s crew.
—oregonlive, 26 Mar. 2020
The musical comedy is filled with zany pirates, zombie ships, mermaids and the plot revolves around a bumbling actor and his crew getting shanghaied by the terror of the high seas.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 July 2019
To shanghai your wife into a mental health intervention would be a mistake.
—Y Jeanne Phillips, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Feb. 2018
That prompts the secretly protective Madea to shanghai Joe and the equally outrageous old-timers Hattie (Patrice Lovely) and Bam (Cassi Davis) for a trip to the lake to bring Tiffany back.
—Mike Scott, NOLA.com, 20 Oct. 2017
The ways in which our attention gets shanghaied by these companies makes us less good as citizens.
—Isaac Chotiner, Slate Magazine, 5 Oct. 2017
The idea of a summertime art festival has been shanghaied by the nonprofit Art Shanty Project.
—Bob Shaw, Twin Cities, 6 Jan. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Shanghai.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shanghai. Accessed 22 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
shanghai
verb
shang·hai
shaŋ-ˈhī 
shanghaied; shanghaiing
1
: to put aboard a ship by force often with the help of liquor or a drug
2
: to put by threat or force into or as if into a place of detention
3
: to put by trickery into an undesirable position
Etymology
from Shanghai, a major seaport in China; so called because this method was formerly sometimes used to get sailors for ships sailing to eastern Asia
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