shanghai
English
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 331: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˌʃæŋˈhaɪ/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 331: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈʃæŋ.haɪ/, /ˌʃæŋˈhaɪ/
Audio (US): (file) Audio (AU): (file) - Rhymes: -aɪ
Etymology 1
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Chinese 上海 (Shànghǎi, “Shanghai”), with reference to the former practice of forcibly crewing ships heading for the Orient.
Verb
shanghai (third-person singular simple present shanghais, present participle shanghaiing, simple past and past participle shanghaied)
- (transitive) To force or trick (someone) into joining a ship which is lacking a full crew.
- 1999 June 24, ‘The Resurrection of Tom Waits’, in Rolling Stone, quoted in Innocent When You Dream, Orion (2006), page 256,
- It was the strangest galley: the sounds, the steam, he's screaming at his coworkers. I felt like I'd been shanghaied.
- 1999 June 24, ‘The Resurrection of Tom Waits’, in Rolling Stone, quoted in Innocent When You Dream, Orion (2006), page 256,
- (transitive) To abduct or coerce.
- 1974 September 30, ‘Final Report on the Activities of the Children of God',
- Oftentimes the approach is to shanghai an unsuspecting victim.
- 1985, Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale,
- Their power had a flaw to it. They could be shanghaied in toilets.
- 1974 September 30, ‘Final Report on the Activities of the Children of God',
- (transitive, US) To trick (a person) into entering a jurisdiction where they can lawfully be arrested.
- (transitive) To commandeer; appropriate; hijack
- Let's see if we can shanghai a room for a couple of hours.
Synonyms
- (force or trick someone into joining a ship; abduct or coerce): press-gang
Translations
to force or trick into joining a ship
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Noun
shanghai (plural shanghais)
Etymology 2
From Scottish shangan, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Scottish Gaelic seangan, influenced by the Chinese city.[1]
Noun
shanghai (plural shanghais)
- (Australia, New Zealand) A slingshot.
- 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber 2003, p. 206:
- They scrounged around the camp […] and held out their filthy wings to the feeble sun, making themselves an easy target for Charles's shanghai.
- 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber 2003, p. 206:
Translations
a slingshot
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References
Categories:
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/aɪ
- English terms derived from Chinese
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- American English
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with archaic senses
- English terms derived from Scottish Gaelic
- Australian English
- New Zealand English
- en:Weapons