kidnap
v.v. to take someone away by force and keep them as a prisoner, usually to ask for money.
v. to abduct a person by force or fraud, typically for the purpose of holding them for ransom. Transitive — requires a direct object.
The criminals planned to kidnap the wealthy businessman.
The gang attempted to kidnap the diplomat as he was leaving his home for the embassy.
Historical accounts suggest that the pirates would kidnap sailors from merchant vessels to bolster their own crew numbers or to sell them into forced labour at distant ports.
From kid + nap (“to nab; to grab”). Originally Thieves' cant, referring to the practice of stealing children and shipping them to colonies or plantations as laborers. First attested c. 1680.
The verb is transitive and takes a direct object. In British English, the final 'p' is doubled in inflected forms (kidnapped, kidnapping), whereas American English often uses a single 'p'.
They kidnap him for three days.They kidnapped him for three days.Learners often forget to double the final 'p' when adding -ed or -ing in British English, or they use the present tense for completed historical events.