Learn Arabic › B2 › خَطْف
خَطْف
snatching /ˈxatˤf/
nounB2#3448 most common
Also: grabbing, kidnapping, abduction
Example sentences
خَطْفُ الحقيبةِ جريمةٌ.
Snatching the bag is a crime.
سمعتُ عن خَطْفِ طفلٍ في المدينةِ.
I heard about the kidnapping of a child in the city.
تعرّضت السائحةُ لِخَطْفٍ مفاجئٍ لحقيبتها.
The tourist was subjected to a sudden snatching of her bag.
أدانت الشرطةُ عمليةَ خَطْفِ الطائرةِ.
The police condemned the hijacking of the plane.
يُعاقِبُ القانونُ على خَطْفِ الأشخاصِ بأشدِّ العقوباتِ.
The law punishes the kidnapping of people with the harshest penalties.
أثار خَطْفُ الدبلوماسيِّ جدلاً واسعاً في الأوساطِ السياسيةِ الدوليةِ.
The kidnapping of the diplomat sparked wide controversy in international political circles.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | خَطْفٌ | خَطَفَاتٌ |
| Genitive | خَطْفٍ | خَطَفَاتٍ |
| Accusative | خَطْفًا | خَطَفَاتٍ |
| Vocative | يا خَطْفُ | يا خَطَفَاتُ |
Word family
خَطَفَ (khaṭafa)to snatch, grab quickly, kidnap
خاطف (khāṭif)snatcher; fleeting, quick (as in a glance)
مخطوف (makhṭūf)snatched, kidnapped
اختطاف (ikhtiṭāf)kidnapping, hijacking (formal term)
خُطَّاف (khuṭṭāf)hook; swallow (the bird)
Etymology
خَطْف comes from the Arabic triliteral root خ-ط-ف, which carries the sense of a fast, forceful grab. Classical dictionaries describe the verb خطف as seizing something before it can be stopped, the way a bird snatches prey in flight. The root is Semitic, so it has no Proto-Indo-European ancestor. It shares its core sense with the Hebrew root behind חָטַף (chataf), to snatch or grab suddenly.
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