nab

[ nab ]
See synonyms for nab on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),nabbed, nab·bing.Informal.
  1. to arrest or capture.

  2. to catch or seize, especially suddenly.

  1. to snatch or steal.

Origin of nab

1
1675–85; earlier nap; perhaps <Scandinavian; compare Danish nappe,Norwegian, Swedish nappa to snatch

Other words from nab

  • nabber, noun

Words Nearby nab

Other definitions for NAB (2 of 2)

NAB

  1. Also N.A.B. National Association of Broadcasters.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use nab in a sentence

  • The day is one that will long be remembered by those who took part in the trips round the nab.

    Yachting Vol. 2 | Various.
  • When you nab them, you feel as if they hadn't a fair show; it hardly seems a sporting proposition.

    The Winning Clue | James Hay, Jr.
  • One knows these gentlemen the Parisian police: how they cry a wolf and then go out and nab some stray puppy in the street.

  • Down below, nab runs out a bare black arm into the sea, which even in the calmest weather angrily foams along the windward side.

  • Judging it correctly, he turned his back and ran; then, whirling about just in time, put up a single hand to nab the ball.

    Mystery Wings | Roy J. Snell

British Dictionary definitions for nab

nab

/ (næb) /


verbnabs, nabbing or nabbed (tr) informal
  1. to arrest

  2. to catch (someone) in wrongdoing

  1. to seize suddenly; snatch

Origin of nab

1
C17: perhaps of Scandinavian origin; compare Danish nappe, Swedish nappa to snatch. See kidnap

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012