| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
| |
| shanghai |
| |
| SYLLABICATION: | shang·hai |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  sh ng-h  , shngh |
| TRANSITIVE VERB: | Inflected forms: shang·haied, shang·hai·ing, shang·hais
1. To kidnap (a man) for compulsory service aboard a ship, especially after drugging him. 2. To induce or compel (someone) to do something, especially by fraud or force: We were shanghaied into buying worthless securities. | | ETYMOLOGY: | After Shanghai1, from the former custom of kidnapping sailors to man ships going to China. | | OTHER FORMS: | shang·haier —NOUN
| | |
| |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
|
|
