kidnapped

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of kidnap.

   Rebels kidnapped three aid workers near the border crossing.

   The heiress was kidnapped on her way home from school.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs, with the final p of kidnap doubled before -ed. As a simple past it stands alone (rebels kidnapped three workers). As a past participle it follows have in the perfect or be in the passive (she was kidnapped). Because the verb is transitive, the active form always names its victim. Kidnap is also a noun, but kidnapped belongs only to the verb.

2. 2
   adjective

   Having been seized and held captive by force, typically for ransom or to compel some demand.

   The kidnapped diplomat appeared exhausted but unharmed at his release.

   Authorities circulated photographs of the kidnapped heiress to aid the search.

   Similarabducted, captive

   Note

   The adjective that sits before a noun and describes a state rather than an event: a kidnapped diplomat, the kidnapped children. After be it is usually the passive verb instead, so she was kidnapped tells what happened, not what she is. It has no degrees: someone is kidnapped or not, so more kidnapped and very kidnapped do not occur.

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