hijack
/ˈhaɪdʒæk/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈhaɪdʒæk/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈhī-ˌjak/ (ame, mw) · /ˈhaɪ.dʒæk/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈhaɪ.dʒæk/ (ame, ipa)
hijack — verb
- hijackpresent simple I / you / we / they
- hijackshe / she / it
- hijackedpast simple
- hijacking-ing form
1. to seize a plane, bus, ship, or truck while it is travelling, usually by threate
to seize a plane, bus, ship, or truck while it is travelling, usually by threatening the people on board with weapons, so that the attacker can direct the vehicle or use the passengers as leverage.
Two armed men hijacked the Athens-bound flight and ordered the pilot to land in Cairo.
transitive: hijack + [vehicle]
Layla watched the news as gunmen hijacked a tourist bus near the old border crossing.
gunmen as subject; bus as object
Pirates hijacked the small cargo ship and held its crew off the Somali coast.
The driver hit a panic button the moment two men tried to hijack the armoured van.
A lone gunman hijacked the city bus and demanded to be driven straight to the airport.
- commandeer
more formal; often used of officials taking a vehicle for emergency use, not always violent.
- seize
broader; works for any object, place, or power, not just moving vehicles.
- skyjack
informal and dated; refers specifically to hijacking aircraft.
- release
to let the vehicle and passengers go after a hijacking.
文法句型
hijack + [vehicle]
用法筆記
Object is almost always a vehicle in motion (plane, bus, ship, train, truck) and the act involves force or threats. Distinguish from sense 2, which is figurative and applies to meetings, ideas, or accounts.
常見錯誤
2. to take over a meeting, conversation, campaign, or system that belongs to other
to take over a meeting, conversation, campaign, or system that belongs to other people and steer it toward your own goals — for example, dominating a town hall to push one agenda, or breaking into an email account to send messages from it.
Jiwoo accused two senior members of hijacking the meeting to push their own pet project.
hijack + meeting + to push
A small faction tried to hijack the climate march and turn it into an anti-mayor protest.
hijack + [event] + turn it into
Hackers hijacked Antonia's email account and sent fake invoices to every contact in her address book.
Madison felt that her quiet dinner party had been hijacked by an argument about the election.
Critics say the company hijacked the charity event to advertise its new phone.
- commandeer
formal; often neutral and even authorised, while hijack carries the sense of disrupting other people's plans.
- co-opt
subtler; suggests absorbing someone's cause into yours rather than openly seizing it.
- derail
focuses on stopping a process; hijack adds the idea of redirecting it for your own gain.
文法句型
hijack + [meeting / process / account]
用法筆記
Frequently passive ('be hijacked by'). Object is something that belongs to a group or process, not a physical vehicle. Often paired with a purpose clause beginning with 'to' that names the hijacker's aim.
常見錯誤
hijack — noun
- hijacksingular
- hijacksplural
1. a single event in which armed people take over a moving vehicle — most often a p
a single event in which armed people take over a moving vehicle — most often a plane, bus, or truck — by threatening the people on board.
News of the hijack reached the airport just minutes before the flight was due to land.
noun + reached
Eshe remembers the 1985 hijack as the longest week her family ever spent watching television.
definite the hijack + dated event
Police trained for two years to handle a possible hijack at the new high-speed rail station.
Six passengers were treated for shock after the hijack ended peacefully at midnight.
Élise wrote her thesis on the legal questions raised by the 1976 Entebbe hijack.
- skyjacking
informal and dated; restricted to aircraft.
- carjacking
specifically the seizure of a private car at gunpoint, usually from its driver.
- abduction
broader and people-focused; emphasises the kidnapping aspect rather than the vehicle takeover.
文法句型
a hijack of [vehicle]
用法筆記
Refers to one specific incident. For the general crime or the act in the abstract, English usually prefers the noun 'hijacking'. 'A hijack of a bus' is fine; 'the crime of hijack' would normally be 'the crime of hijacking'.