Meanings
nounkidnapping (countable and uncountable, plural kidnappings)
plural kidnappings · alternative US uncommon kidnaping
- countableuncountablecrimeThe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom.
The Kiryat Malachi native, who had been working as a bartender in Tel Aviv before his kidnapping, was last seen trying to hide next to a car as a terrorist fired a rocket-propelled grenade at him and a friend.
2025 March 7, ToI staff, JTA, “The next 24: These are the remaining hostages presumed alive in Gaza”, in The Times of Israel, archived from the original on 03 Aug 2025
Synonyms & antonyms
noun(law) the unlawful act of capturing and carrying away a person against their will and holding them in false imprisonment
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Ancient Greek ἀνδραποδισμός, ἀπαγωγή
- ἀνδραποδισμός (andrapodismós)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- ἀπαγωγή (apagōgḗ)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Arabic اِخْتِطَاف
- اِخْتِطَاف (iḵtiṭāf)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Bulgarian отвли́чане, похище́ние
- отвли́чане (otvlíčane)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- похище́ние (pohišténie)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Catalan segrest
- segrestthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Chinese Mandarin 綁架 /绑架, 誘拐 /诱拐
- 綁架 /绑架 (bǎngjià)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- 誘拐 /诱拐 (yòuguǎi)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- 拐騙 /拐骗 (guǎipiàn)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- 綁票 /绑票 (bǎngpiào)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Czech únos
- únosthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Danish kidnapning, bortførelse
- kidnapningthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- bortførelsethe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- bortførselthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Dutch gijzeling
- gijzelingthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Esperanto homforkapto
- homforkaptothe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Estonian inimrööv
- inimröövthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Finnish ihmisryöstö, sieppaus
- ihmisryöstöthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- sieppausthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
French enlèvement, kidnapping
- enlèvementthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- kidnappingthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- raptthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
German Entführung, Menschenraub
- Entführungthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- Menschenraubthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- Kinderraubthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- Kidnappingthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Greek απαγωγή
- απαγωγή (apagogí)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Hebrew חֲטִיפָה
- חֲטִיפָה (ḥatifa)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Hindi अपहरण
- अपहरण (apahraṇ)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Hungarian emberrablás
- emberrablásthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Icelandic mannrán
- mannránthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Italian sequestro
- sequestrothe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Japanese 誘拐, 拉致
- 誘拐 (yūkai)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- 拉致 (rachi)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Korean 납치, 랍치
- 납치 (napchi)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- 랍치 (rapchi)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- 유괴 (yugoe)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Latin plagium
- plagiumthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Latvian nolaupīšana
- nolaupīšanathe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Lithuanian pagrobimas
- pagrobimasthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Malay penculikan
- penculikanthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Norwegian Bokmål kidnapping
- kidnappingthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Persian آدمربایی
- آدمربایی (âdam-robâyi)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Polish porwanie
- porwaniethe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Portuguese sequestro, rapto
- sequestrothe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- raptothe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Romanian răpire
- răpirethe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Russian похище́ние, киднэ́ппинг
- похище́ние (poxiščénije)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- киднэ́ппинг (kidnɛ́pping)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- кидне́ппинг (kidnɛ́pping)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Slovak únos
- únosthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Spanish secuestro
- secuestrothe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Swahili utekaji nyara
- utekaji nyarathe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Swedish kidnappning
- kidnappningthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Thai การลักพาตัว, ลักพาตัว
- การลักพาตัวthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- ลักพาตัว (lák-paa-dtuua)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Turkish adam kaçırma
- adam kaçırmathe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Ukrainian ви́крадення, викрада́ння
- ви́крадення (výkradennja)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
- викрада́ння (vykradánnja)the crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Vietnamese sự bắt cóc
- sự bắt cócthe crime of taking a person against their will, sometimes for ransom
Cite this entry
APA
kidnapping. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kidnapping
MLA
“kidnapping.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kidnapping. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kidnapping,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kidnapping.
Source: kidnapping on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.