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
Stephen Kabirat, spokesman for the Catholic Church of Kontagora Diocese where the attack happened, told local media that the gunmen killed more than 40 people and that some of those abducted were children.
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CNN Money, 4 Jan. 2026
Stephen Kabirat, spokesman for the Catholic Church of Kontagora Diocese, where the attack happened, told local media that the gunmen killed more than 40 people and that some of those abducted were children.
—CBS News, 4 Jan. 2026
Stephen Kabirat, a spokesman for the Catholic Church of Kontagora Diocese where the attack happened, told local media that the gunmen killed more than 40 people and abducted several others, including children.
—Los Angeles Times, 4 Jan. 2026
What stops Vladimir Putin from asserting similar justification to abduct Ukraine’s president?
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 3 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for abduct
CNN Money, 4 Jan. 2026
Stephen Kabirat, spokesman for the Catholic Church of Kontagora Diocese, where the attack happened, told local media that the gunmen killed more than 40 people and that some of those abducted were children.
—CBS News, 4 Jan. 2026
Stephen Kabirat, a spokesman for the Catholic Church of Kontagora Diocese where the attack happened, told local media that the gunmen killed more than 40 people and abducted several others, including children.
—Los Angeles Times, 4 Jan. 2026
What stops Vladimir Putin from asserting similar justification to abduct Ukraine’s president?
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 3 Jan. 2026
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 9 Jan. 2026.
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