carjacking

noun

car·​jack·​ing ˈkär-ˌja-kiŋ 

: the theft of an automobile from its driver by force or intimidation

In the cities and suburbs, where muggings and carjackings are a daily concern, voters are wondering how many of the nation's 200 million guns are pointed at them.

—Richard Lacayo

… Congress made a show of getting tough on crime by making armed carjackings a federal crime.

—Janet Novack

carjack

ˈkär-ˌjak 

transitive verb

carjacked; carjacking; carjacks

Several weeks after the shooting, a woman my age was carjacked there.

—Susan Straight

carjacker

ˈkär-ˌja-kər 

noun

plural carjackers

If you're confronted by a carjacker, be cooperative. The big picture: It's your car versus your life.

—Amy Lumet

Examples of carjacking in a Sentence

The police are investigating another carjacking.

Recent Examples on the Web

Nevada County sheriff’s officials were working with Sacramento County sheriff’s detectives on the carjacking reported late Thursday. —Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 30 Mar. 2024

Police in California released video of a pursuit that ended with a suspect clinging onto a moving car in what looked like a carjacking attempt, prior to being shot. —Pilar Arias, Fox News, 27 Mar. 2024

The carjacking occurred at approximately 9:13 a.m. in the parking lot of a Dollar General in Morrisville, police said. —Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 16 Mar. 2024

Gamble said a carjacking was reported around the same time in the same area as the shooting, near the Dollar Tree on Folsom Boulevard, but that it was not confirmed whether the carjacking and homicide were connected. —Ishani Desai, Sacramento Bee, 25 Mar. 2024

Currently, carjacking is charged as a first-degree robbery. —Rebecca Grapevine, The Courier-Journal, 15 Mar. 2024

According to county police data, there were 508 carjackings in 2023, an uptick from 480 in 2022. —Jasmine Hilton, Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2024

On Monday, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office charged the suspects with carjacking, robbery, kidnapping, criminal threats and burglary, according to police. —Jason Green, The Mercury News, 8 Mar. 2024

Violent crime in Chinatown rose by 36% in 2023, according the Metropolitan Police Department — part of a citywide spike in homicides and carjackings. —Ashraf Khalil, Fortune, 4 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

car + (hi)jack + -ing entry 1

First Known Use

1991, in the meaning defined above

Legal Definition

carjacking

noun

car·​jack·​ing ˈkär-ˌja-kiŋ 

: theft by force or intimidation of an auto that has a driver or passenger present