To force someone to join a ship's crew through trickery or coercion. A major city and port in eastern China.
The verb comes from the practice of kidnapping sailors to work on ships bound for Shanghai, China, popular in the 19th century. The city name comes from Chinese 'Shànghǎi' meaning 'upon the sea,' referring to its location where the Huangpu River meets the sea.
Being 'shanghaied' was so common in ports like San Francisco that some bars had trapdoors leading to tunnels connected to the waterfront, making it easy to drug and kidnap unsuspecting patrons. Modern Shanghai is home to more skyscrapers than any other city in the world.
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