Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To kidnap (a man) for compulsory service aboard a ship, especially after drugging him.
- v. To induce or compel (someone) to do something, especially by fraud or force: We were shanghaied into buying worthless securities.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A very long-legged hen with feathered shanks, reputed to have been introduced from Shanghai, China. The breed (if, despite its great vogue at one time, it could ever claim to be one) is now obsolete, having been developed or differentiated into the different varieties of brahmas and cochins. Also called brahmaputra, brahmapootra.
- n. Hence A tall person; especially, a tall dandy.
- n. A long, slender oyster; a stick-up or stuck-up; a coon-heel, rabbit-ear, or razor-blade.
- n. A kind of fish-hook.
- Nautical, to render insensible, as a person, by drugs, liquor, or violence, and ship him on a vessel wanting hands, for the purpose of fraudulently securing advance-money and any premium offered for procuring seamen.
- n. A boys' catapult.
- To shoot with a shanghai. See shanghai, 5.
Wiktionary
- v. transitive To force or trick (someone) into joining a ship which is lacking a full crew.
- v. transitive To abduct or coerce.
- v. transitive To commandeer; appropriate; hijack
- n. dated A slingshot.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. Slang, U.S. To intoxicate and ship (a person) as a sailor while in this condition.
- n. (Zoöl.) A large and tall breed of domestic fowl.
WordNet 3.0
- v. take (someone) against his will for compulsory service, especially on board a ship
- n. the largest city of China; located in the east on the Pacific; one of the largest ports in the world
Etymologies
- From Mandarin 上海 (Shànghǎi), with reference to the former practice of forcibly crewing ships heading for the Orient. (Wiktionary)
- After Shanghai 1, from the former custom of kidnapping sailors to man ships going to China. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“In he was assigned to the motor transport unit in shanghai, china, eventually becoming”
“Link many of my friends have unlocked iphone. yet, we are in shanghai of china, not the usa. so, u know where the missing iphones go! — joe lee”
Good News in the One Million Missing iPhones - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com
“TANNET help foreign investors invest in shanghai, service includes WFOE registration in Shanghai, Shanghai representative office establishment in Shanghai, as well as some relevant service, such as work permit registration.”
“No one would "shanghai" a gentleman to crew some tramp ship; for one thing, what was the point?”
“This machine resembled a large "shanghai" fixed to timber, one end of which rested on the parapet whilst the other -- in the trench -- was packed in a manner to give the required elevation.”
“I am sure that any good-sized "shanghai" eats more every day than the meager half loaf that we had to maintain life upon.”
“shanghai' in hand, under the tree where Hardy sat.”
“I had my wallet stolen from the Uighurs more than once in the subways (people square, shanghai).”
Global Voices in English » The Uyghurs: Persecuted Muslim Minority in NorthWest China
“What are you doing with my cook? — lost yours and trying to shanghai him?”
“However, I have tried a few of their shanghai style dishes and they werre not up to par with the former China 46.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘shanghai’.
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Chickens
For more "odd-sounding chicken breeds & chicken-related words," see serendoxity's Fowl Words.
Barred Rock, Rhode Island Red, Australorp, Cochin, Fayoumi, Hamburg, White Leghorn, Minorca, Wyandotte, Golden Penciled H..., Blue Andalusians, Cuckoo Maran and 132 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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EN-HU - important words for a HU inte...
Words only (I left out the expressions) from Geza Kerenyi's EN-HU interpreters' dictionary. Most of them pose some difficulty when interpreted between HU and EN in either or both directions.
abalone, abrasive, abstractionist, abstruse, abysmal, academia, accessibility, accessible, acclimate, accolade, accompanist, achiever and 1469 more...
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Hence
Words with definitions that have a "hence" in them.
hanger, Deet, tripe, spindlelegs, fiddle, store, pluck, snap, villain, link, comedy, particular and 410 more...
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Lying, cheating, and stealing
subterfuge, chicanery, skulduggery, pilfer, purloin, bamboozle, bilk, gyp, hoodwink, swindle, hoax, dupe and 28 more...
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Old words
recalcitrant, grok, Hiatus, shanghai, pervade, diffuse, tempestuous, incorrigible, daunt, cull, Erudite, Assuage and 35 more...
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the exciting --ngh-- list
Words containing the letter sequence --ngh--.
Like spanghew.
This is a public list.stronghold, longhorn, pronghorn, dinghy, dunghill, clearinghouse, gingham, shanghai, wrongheaded, longhair, boardinghouse, bunghole and 49 more...
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Tip-Top Toponymic
Place names that have entered general speech. Toponyms that interest me in other ways are on Place Names Of Distinction
hamburger, wiener, finlandisation, vernissage, hackney, venetians, bohemian, anti-macassar, berliner, cravat, calico, serendipity and 113 more...
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Favorites
disparage, partisan, cupidity, hokum, tussle, odious, dastardly, overture, plane, chronic, peering, peer and 328 more...
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Nautical Words
lubber, mizzenmast, circumnavigation, clipper, cordage, galleon, gangplank, gangway, flying bridge, following sea, schooner, amidships and 106 more...
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wunderkammer's Words
smarmy, bubkes, elucidate, togs, aeolian, carp, kibosh, bosky, ramshackle, mange, harpy, effervesce and 163 more...
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Xuer's Words
real, xuer, china, shanghai, internet, readwrite, craigslist, google, delicious, flickr, douban, 37signals and 109 more...
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Umbersorrow
Intangible, anthropic.
States of being are listed on oofy.njiju, glark, deplore, afterlithe, tagmass, spuriosity, forkful, chelation, oding, ploat, botnet, quedeship and 477 more...
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dienekes's Words
chutzpah, lexicon, intrepid, pedagogical, schlemiel, schism, erudite, anathema, pugilist, jaunty, paradigm, automaton and 949 more...
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S is for Sweater Puppy
My S Words
secret agent, sweater puppy, skivvies, soda jerk, surly, space madness, sad sack, sadsack, scoundrel, scrabble, shaken teddy bear..., saucy and 181 more...
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Words that kick serious ass
juggernaut, haymaker, gung-ho, frag, smite, blunderbuss, gargantuan, ragnarok, ripsnorter, herculean, silverback, firebrand and 127 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for shanghai.

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