nab

[nab] /næb/
verb (used with object), nabbed, nabbing. Informal.
1.
to arrest or capture.
2.
to catch or seize, especially suddenly.
3.
to snatch or steal.
Origin
1675-85; earlier nap; perhaps < Scandinavian; compare Danish nappe, Norwegian, Swedish nappa to snatch
Related forms
nabber, noun

NAB

1.
Also, N.A.B. National Association of Broadcasters.
2.
New American Bible.
British Dictionary definitions for nab

nab

/næb/
verb (transitive) (informal) nabs, nabbing, nabbed
1.
to arrest
2.
to catch (someone) in wrongdoing
3.
to seize suddenly; snatch
Word Origin
C17: perhaps of Scandinavian origin; compare Danish nappe, Swedish nappa to snatch. See kidnap
Word Origin and History for nab
v.

"to catch (someone)," 1680s, probably a variant of dialectal nap "to seize, catch, lay hold of" (1670s, now surviving only in kidnap), which possibly is from Scandinavian (cf. Norwegian nappe, Swedish nappa "to catch, snatch;" Danish nappe "to pinch, pull"); reinforced by Middle English napand "grasping, greedy." Related: Nabbed; nabbing.

Slang definitions & phrases for nab

nab

noun

(also nabs) A police officer or detective (1950s+ Street gang)

verb

To catch; seize; arrest; collar: The officers nabbed him around the corner (1686+)

[fr dialect nap as in kidnap, perhaps related to Swedish nappa, ''catch,'' or Danish nappe, ''pull''; probably related to nip; the noun sense is recorded in British criminal slang by 1813]


Related Abbreviations for nab

NAB

  1. National Association of Broadcasters
  2. New American Bible