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
In the book, author Patrick Radden Keefe investigates the murder of Jean McConville, who was abducted from her Belfast apartment by Irish Republicans in 1972 and killed after facing accusations of being an informant for the British Army.
—
Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 29 July 2025
Now, my work has shifted to rapid response and tracking down members abducted by ICE.
—Mina Aguilar, New York Daily News, 29 July 2025
The following criteria must be met to issue an AMBER Alert, according to the Department of Public Safety:
A child under 18 was abducted.
—Wren Smetana, AZCentral.com, 25 July 2025
On the way home from the college town's Five Points bar scene, in the early morning hours, Josephson mistook Rowland's car for an Uber and was abducted.
—Alexandra Koch , Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 22 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for abduct
Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 29 July 2025
Now, my work has shifted to rapid response and tracking down members abducted by ICE.
—Mina Aguilar, New York Daily News, 29 July 2025
The following criteria must be met to issue an AMBER Alert, according to the Department of Public Safety:
A child under 18 was abducted.
—Wren Smetana, AZCentral.com, 25 July 2025
On the way home from the college town's Five Points bar scene, in the early morning hours, Josephson mistook Rowland's car for an Uber and was abducted.
—Alexandra Koch , Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 22 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for abduct
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abduct
kidnap
Verb
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Uribe, grandson of former president Julio César Turbay Ayala (1978-1982), experienced the violence of those years firsthand: his mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was kidnapped by Medellín Cartel drug traffickers under Pablo Escobar and killed in 1991 during a rescue operation.—
Sebastián Jiménez Valencia,
CNN Money,
11 Aug. 2025
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An on-duty police officer kidnapped his ex’s boyfriend, killed him and sank his body in a Tennessee river with cinder blocks, investigators said.—
Olivia Lloyd,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Abduct.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abduct. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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