nab

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2][3][4] Most dictionaries take it as a variant of the dialectal nap (“to seize, catch”), recorded from 1673 and surviving in kidnap,^{[5][6][7][8][9]} which may be of Scandinavian origin:^[9][7][6] compare Norwegian nappe (“to catch, snatch”), Swedish nappa (“to snatch”) and Danish nappe (“to pinch, pull”).^{[5][6][10][11]} Barnhart and Etymonline see a hint of the Scandinavian form, or a reinforcement from it, in the earlier Middle English napand (“grasping, greedy”), recorded before 1460.^[6][5] Weekley compares Norwegian knabbe and thinks nobble probably of kindred origin.^[12] Johnson (1755) derived it from the Swedish verb.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

To take or to cheat: 1665, in Head's English Rogue, a cant glossary entry; a form nib'd, stolen, appears in 1659.^[14] The OED's first record, for arresting a criminal, is from 1686,^[2][6][8] and Etymonline dates the verb to the 1680s.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Nab began as a cant word of thieves,^[12][14] and Johnson (1755) called it a word seldom used but in low language, meaning to catch unexpectedly or seize without warning.^[13] The senses of arresting a criminal (1686) and of catching or surprising anyone (1699) came first in the OED's record, and snatching or stealing a thing in 1794,^[2] though the thieves' sense "to steal" is in Green's quotations from 1665.^[14] In weakened use it now also means simply to get or grab something.^[2][8] From the verb came old slang terms for the police, such as nabbing-cull, a constable,^[5] and the noun nab, a police officer, from 1813.^[2][14] In dialect the verb was widely used in Scotland, Ireland, England and America for taking, seizing or stealing.^[15]

Timeline

• 1665 – to take or steal, in thieves' cant.^[14]
• 1686 – to catch a criminal and take him into custody.^[2][6][8]
• 1699 – to catch or seize unexpectedly.^[2]
• 1785 – to nab the rust, to be angry or sulky (regional, obsolete).^[2]
• 1794 – to snatch or steal a thing; later, to get or obtain.^[2]
• 1813 – noun, a police officer.^[2][14]

Meanings

Verb

1. (informal) To arrest; to catch someone in wrongdoing: The police nabbed him at the airport.^[10][8][2]
2. To seize or grab suddenly: He nabbed the last parking space.^[10][8][2]
3. To steal or snatch.^[8][2]

Noun

1. (slang) A police officer.^[8][2][14]
2. (slang) An arrest.^[8]

Word family

• nabber

Related words

• kidnap
• nap
• knap
• nobble

Usage notes

Several other words are spelled nab: a projecting hill or rock, chiefly in Scotland and northern England, of Scandinavian origin and recorded from about 1450;^[2][16][8] an old slang word for the head (from 1536) and a hat;^[2][16] and a dialect verb meaning to nibble (from 1630).^[2][15]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b c d e f g Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
15. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
16. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press