hijack
/ˈhʌɪdʒak
/verb [with object]
1Illegally seize (an aircraft, ship, or vehicle) while in transit and force it to go to a different destination or use it for one’s own purposes: a man armed with grenades hijacked the jet yesterday...
- It involves chasing and seizing a supposedly hijacked ship and rescuing its crew members.
- Armed men hijack the vehicle when Dr. Quest is away, taking Race and Jonny to an underwater base.
- A dangerous armed thief, who hijacked a car in Egham, and committed a further six offences, has been jailed for six-and-a-half-years.
Synonyms
commandeer, seize, take over, take possession of, skyjack;
appropriate, expropriate, confiscate
informal snatch
1.1Steal (goods) by seizing them in transit: the UN convoys have been tamely allowing gunmen to hijack relief supplies...
- Last year he helped expose a bug that was allowing hackers to hijack AOL Instant Messenger accounts.
- A bug in Movable Type allows spammers to hijack the ‘Mail This Entry’ blog feature.
- I guess I should also apologise to Nick D' Angelo for hijacking the Beats Per Minute show in 1989.
1.2Take over (something) and use it for a different purpose: he argues that pressure groups have hijacked the environmental debate...
- The public power belongs to everyone and when majorities hijack it for sectarian purposes they act oppressively.
- Where Pringle is even-handed in showing how extremists have hijacked the debate over GM food, Nestle is an unapologetic partisan.
- We should not let racist organisations hijack our national flag.
noun
An incident or act of hijacking: [as modifier]: an unsuccessful hijack attempt...
- After the hijack attempt, he says he took stock, realising that ‘life might end any minute and I really need to push things on a bit’.
- The Saudi statement gave no motive for the hijack attempt.
- The three run some of the biggest hijacks and burglaries New York has ever seen.
Origin
1920s (originally US): of unknown origin.