Definition of kidnapping

Definition of kidnapping
: an act or instance or the crime of seizing, confining, inveigling, abducting, or carrying away a person by force or fraud often with a demand for ransom or in furtherance of another crime
Definition of burglary
: the act of breaking and entering a dwelling at night to commit a felony (such as theft)broadly : the entering of a building with the intent to commit a crime
mug
verb (1)
mugged; mugging
Definition of mug (Entry 2 of 3)
intransitive verb
: to pose or make faces especially to attract attention or for a camera
Definition of robbery
: the act or practice of robbingspecifically : larceny from the person or presence of another by violence or threat
Definition of theft
1a: the act of stealingspecifically : the felonious taking and removing of personal property with intent to deprive the rightful owner of it
Definition of arson
: the willful or malicious burning of property (such as a building) especially with criminal or fraudulent intentArson was determined to be the cause of the fire.
Other Words from arsonMore Example SentencesLearn More About arson
Other Words from arson
arsonist \ ˈär-​sᵊn-​ist \ noun
arsonous \ ˈär-​sᵊn-​əs \ adjective
Examples of arson in a Sentence
 The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but investigators suspect arson. The town has suffered a rash of arson attacks. The town has suffered a rash of arsons.
Recent Examples on the WebThe legal determination comes nearly five years after the brutal violence killed approximately 9,000 Rohingya and drove nearly 1 million from the Southeast Asian country across the border into Bangladesh, fleeing murder, rape and arson.— Conor Finnegan, ABC News, 22 Mar. 2022The refugees have accused Myanmar security forces of killings, mass rape and arson to drive them out.— NBC News, 21 Mar. 2022Five other defendants are still facing federal arson counts related to police vehicles burned at the protest; prosecutors declined comment on whether they had been offered similar plea deals.— Fox News, 20 Mar. 2022See More
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'arson.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.