From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishkidnapkid‧nap /ˈkɪdnæp/ ●●○ verb (kidnapped, kidnapping also kidnaped, kidnaping American English) [transitive] SCCTAKE/BRINGto take someone somewhere illegally by force, often in order to get money for returning them → ransom Police appealed for witnesses after a woman was kidnapped at gunpoint. —kidnapper noun [countable] the hunt for the kidnapper —kidnapping (also kidnap) noun [countable, uncountable] a series of kidnappings→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
kidnap• A spokesman for the parallel government said that the two men had been kidnapped.• Terrorists have kidnapped a French officer and are demanding $400,000 from the French government.• Ten tourists were kidnapped by militants in a remote southern area.• He was kidnapped by vigilantes in El Centro, beaten and robbed, and then set on fire.• The encounter ends with Robert incompetently kidnapping Celine.• Everyone assumed that it was the kidnapped child, and the remains were hastily cremated.• Hedayat Eslaminia was kidnapped from his Belmont apartment on July 30,1984.• If you can, kidnap him!• Then we get back to the taxi, and there you are waving your weaponry, and kidnapping us.Origin kidnap (1600-1700) kid “child” + nap “to take, seize” ((17-19 centuries)) 