From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishnabnab /næb/ verb (nabbed, nabbing) [transitive] informal 1 SCPCATCHto catch or arrest someone who is doing something wrong The police nabbed him for speeding.2 GETto get something or someone quickly, especially before anyone else can get them See if you can nab a seat.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
nab• The princess has been nabbed by a knight, a black one, of course.• Most have either been nabbed by some one else or are into teenage bimbos or are gay.• The villains are nabbed by the analysis of the fibres found in a recovered car.• Spurned lovers and ex-wives were nabbed making obscene calls thanks to a new high-tech tracing system.• That means attempts to nab the downright nasty might just nail a few well-heeled, flannel-shirted shoppers in the process.• Bridget Fonda nabbed the starring role in the new movie.• A truck driver nabbed the suspected mugger.• Wonderful, senator, and how do you propose to nab those pilots?Origin nab (1600-1700) Perhaps from nap “to seize” ((17-19 centuries)), from a Scandinavian language 