shanghai2

 
Pronunciation: /ʃaŋˈhʌɪ/
Australian/NZ

noun (plural shanghais)

  • a catapult.

verb (shanghais, shanghaiing, shanghaied)

[with object]
  • shoot with a catapult: in spite of his shanghaiing all the cats, the rodents were still on top
  • [with object and adverbial of direction] catapult in a particular direction: the springy, resilient saplings would shanghai him backwards

Origin:

mid 19th century: probably an alteration of Scots dialect shangan 'a stick cleft at one end'