Highjack

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To unlawfully seize control of a vehicle, especially an aircraft, by force or intimidation
2. to take possession of something in a manner that is illegal or unauthorized
3. to divert or misappropriate resources or attention for personal gain or ulterior motives

Etymology: "Highjack" is simply an alternative spelling of "hijack," and the word's origin is murkier than its modern meaning suggests. The most cited explanation is that it blends "highway" with "jacker," meaning one who holds someone up, and the first recorded use dates to 1915. The idea fits the word's sense of seizing a vehicle on the road, though the link is a probable reconstruction rather than a documented fact. What is clear is that the word arrived in the 20th century and was tied from the start to robbery on the open road, before it came to mean seizing a plane or ship.

Synonyms: seize, take over, capture, usurp, commandeer

Antonyms: release, surrender, free, liberate, yield