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
Why capuchins appear to be abducting baby howlers is still unclear, but the team examined multiple possibilities.
—
Lillian Ali, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 May 2025
Their release was made to look like an escape by the gang, which is being accused of abducting the missionaries, including five children, as a bargaining chip to help secure Joly’s release from a Haitian prison.
—Shirsho Dasgupta, Miami Herald, 15 May 2025
The attack killed nearly 1,200 people in Israel with 253 others abducted as hostages, the Israeli government said.
—David Brennan, ABC News, 14 May 2025
The assailants abducted a man wearing blue boxer shorts, also stealing an iPhone, iPad and Apple watch, Madison said.
—Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for abduct
Lillian Ali, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 May 2025
Their release was made to look like an escape by the gang, which is being accused of abducting the missionaries, including five children, as a bargaining chip to help secure Joly’s release from a Haitian prison.
—Shirsho Dasgupta, Miami Herald, 15 May 2025
The attack killed nearly 1,200 people in Israel with 253 others abducted as hostages, the Israeli government said.
—David Brennan, ABC News, 14 May 2025
The assailants abducted a man wearing blue boxer shorts, also stealing an iPhone, iPad and Apple watch, Madison said.
—Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for abduct
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abduct
kidnap
Verb
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The film’s synopsis describes a harrowing premise: During the 1978 World Cup soccer final, amid Argentina’s military dictatorship, a group of torturers violently breaks into a home and kidnaps young people to take them to a clandestine detention center.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
18 May 2025
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In the end, the majority of the 16 U.S. missionaries and one Canadian national who were kidnapped in October 2021 and held for ransom for two months by Haiti’s notorious 400 Mawozo gang were freed only after a $350,000 ransom was paid.—
Shirsho Dasgupta,
Miami Herald,
16 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Abduct.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abduct. Accessed 29 May. 2025.
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