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carjack

/ˈkɑrdʒæk/
/ˈkɑdʒæk/
IPA guide

Other forms: carjacking; carjacked; carjacks

To carjack is to forcefully steal an occupied car from its driver. Sometimes a person who carjacks instructs the victim to drive somewhere.

As opposed to a car thief who takes an unoccupied car from a parking lot or street, someone who carjacks might force his way into a car stopped at a red light. A person who commits this crime is called a carjacker. The word carjack is relatively new, dating only from the 1990s when the crime was rampant in certain cities. It combines car and hijack, "stealing a plane or ship while in transit."

Definitions of carjack
  1. verb
    take someone's car from him by force, usually with the intention of stealing it
    “My car was carjacked last night!”
    see moresee less
    type of:
    commandeer, highjack, hijack, pirate
    take arbitrarily or by force
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