highjack

[hahy-jak] /ˈhaɪˌdʒæk/
verb (used with object), verb (used without object), noun
1.
hijack.
Examples from the web for highjack
  • We broadened the citizen engagement process while working through some difficulties with those who would highjack it.
British Dictionary definitions for highjack

highjack

/ˈhaɪˌdʒæk/
verb, noun
1.
a less common spelling of hijack
Derived Forms
highjacker, noun

hijack

/ˈhaɪˌdʒæk/
verb
1.
(transitive) to seize, divert, or appropriate (a vehicle or the goods it carries) while in transit: to hijack an aircraft
2.
to rob (a person or vehicle) by force: to hijack a traveller
3.
(esp in the US during Prohibition) to rob (a bootlegger or smuggler) of his illicit goods or to steal (illicit goods) in transit
noun
4.
the act or an instance of hijacking
Derived Forms
hijacker, highjacker, noun
Word Origin
C20: of unknown origin
Slang definitions & phrases for highjack

highjack

Related Terms

hijack


hijack

verb
  1. To rob, esp to rob a vehicle of its load: Hijack the truck (1923+)
  2. To commandeer a public vehicle, esp an airliner, for some extortionary or political purpose: Two more planes were hijacked to Cuba last week (1960s+)
  3. To appropriate unjustifiably; annex; steal: The 40th anniversary of D-day was hijacked by Reagan's PR men/ When Petersen, the director, is stuck, he just hijacks an idea or two from Hitchcock to get him to the next point in the picture/ How was the Bharatiya Janata Party able to hijack Hinduism? (1980s+)
Related Terms

ball the jack

[origin uncertain; said to be fr the command High, Jack, telling a robbery victim to raise his hands; an early 1900s hobo sense, ''traveling hold-up man,'' is attested, which suggests that the source may be railroad and hobo slang; said to have originated in the California wheat fields and among the Wobblies; the name of the 1875 skit High Jack the Heeler is interesting but probably coincidental]