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shanghai

 [shang-hahy, shang-hahy]   Origin

shang·hai

   [shang-hahy, shang-hahy]
verb (used with object), shang·haied, shang·hai·ing. Nautical.
to enroll or obtain (a sailor) for the crew of a ship by unscrupulous means, as by force or the use of liquor or drugs.
Origin:
1855–60; after Shanghai

Can be confused: hijack, kidnap, shanghai, skyjack.

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Shanghai is one of our favorite verbs.
So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:
to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.
to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged

Shang·hai

   [shang-hahy; Chin. shahng-hahy]
noun
1.
Pinyin, Wade-Giles. a seaport and municipality in E China, near the mouth of the Chang Jiang. 10,820,000.
2.
a type of long-legged chicken believed to be of Asian origin.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To shanghai
Collins
World English Dictionary
shanghai (ˈʃæŋhaɪ, ʃæŋˈhaɪ)
 
—vb , -hais, -haiing, -haied
1.  to kidnap (a man or seaman) for enforced service at sea, esp on a merchant ship
2.  to force or trick (someone) into doing something, going somewhere, etc
3.  (Austral), (NZ) to shoot with a catapult
 
—n
4.  (Austral), (NZ) a catapult
 
[C19: from the city of Shanghai; from the forceful methods formerly used to collect crews for voyages to the Orient]

Shanghai (ˈʃæŋˈhaɪ)
 
—n
a port in E China, capital of Shanghai municipality (traditionally in SE Jiangsu) near the estuary of the Yangtze: the largest city in China and one of the largest ports in the world; a major cultural and industrial centre, with many universities. Pop: 12 665 000 (2005 est)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

shanghai
1854, Amer.Eng., "to drug a man unconscious and ship him as a sailor," from the practice of kidnapping to fill the crews of ships making extended voyages, such as to the Chinese seaport of Shanghai; lit. "by the sea," from Shang "on, above" + hai "sea."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

Shanghai definition


Largest city in China, located in the eastern part of the country on the Pacific Ocean.

Note: Shanghai is the most populous city in Asia.
Note: It is one of the world's great seaports.
Note: Opened to foreign trade by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, Shanghai became a treaty port administered by Britain, the United States, and France until World War II.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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