hijack

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To take control of a vehicle, especially a plane, by force in order to rob it or change where it goes.

   Armed men tried to hijack the plane during the flight.

2. 2
   verb

   To take control of something for your own purposes instead of its intended one.

   A few members tried to hijack the meeting to push their own ideas.

3. 3
   noun

   An act of taking control of a vehicle by force.

   The hijack ended peacefully after several hours.

Possibly from a blend of highway + jacker (“one who holds up”) (1915).

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