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as in to deceive
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Recent Examples of shanghai
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shanghai
Verb
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Accordingly, Osbourne’s music captured the viewpoint of someone out of touch with their own mind, whose good intentions are thwarted by terrible urges.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
23 July 2025
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The case captured national attention because of its controversy.—
Victoria Moorwood,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
23 July 2025
Verb
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More than 20 children are in the custody of a Southern California child-welfare agency as authorities investigate allegations of child abuse and whether surrogate mothers were deceived by a Los Angeles-area couple.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
17 July 2025
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And then he was wishy-washy, went back and forth, and she was deceived and disappointed by him.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
15 July 2025
Verb
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Advertisement Advertisement In the movie, Papa Smurf (John Goodman) is kidnapped, and No Name Smurf and the one female Smurfette (Rihanna) are on a mission to rescue him from the clutches of evil wizards.—
Olivia B. Waxman,
Time,
18 July 2025
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As the show went on, that family grew to include Carter's new friends, surprise siblings, and eventually even the woman who kidnapped her.—
EW Staff Published,
EW.com,
16 July 2025
Verb
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Luckily for Marian, much of Bertha’s attention is stolen by the unexpected arrival of her unsophisticated sister; Bertha’s too busy making snide comments and tricking her into wearing nicer gowns to even bother with Marian.—
Andy Swift,
TVLine,
13 July 2025
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The offense is built on outside runs and tricking the defense.—
Ted Nguyen,
New York Times,
8 July 2025
Verb
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Among the possibilities for the Heat’s final two-way contract spot is rewarding one of its unsigned summer league standouts or turning to a player who impressed for another summer league team.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
21 July 2025
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Even with its old-school benefits, I was impressed by the Chromatic's ability to still feel modern.—
DeVonne Goode,
Parents,
19 July 2025
Verb
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When plumes of water vapor from Saturn's moon Enceladus spew into space, that water vapor freezes and snows back onto the icy moon's surface, but those snowflakes would, according to previous theories, not have the intricate structure of snowflakes on Earth.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
9 July 2025
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There was snow covering the ground and still snowing hard.—
Mike Rayder,
Hartford Courant,
5 June 2025
Verb
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Marino revealed to This American Life that during the early days of filming the reality show, Butler approached him about selling large amounts of marijuana that had been seized in drug raids by Wielsch.—
Lynsey Eidell,
People.com,
22 July 2025
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Investigators noted that one of the devices that was seized could not be examined because it was encrypted, the warrant affidavit said.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
22 July 2025
Verb
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In one video that drew more than 700,000 views, Vargas waylaid ICE agents who were about to transport an elderly man to a detention center.—
Thomas Westerholm,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 July 2025
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But what was expected to pass the lower chamber with relative ease on July 17 has been waylaid by other, unrelated legislative debates, including growing calls to release the Jeffrey Epstein case files.—
Savannah Kuchar,
USA Today,
18 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shanghai.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shanghai. Accessed 28 Jul. 2025.
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