nab
/næb/verb, noun
nab is spelled N-A-B: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,745th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, nab means “To seize, arrest or take into custody (a criminal or fugitive)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in nab?
| Letters | 3: N-A-B |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 24,745th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is nab?
Nab appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,745th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce nab?
- /næb/
Nab has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-nab.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with nab?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as nab.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: ban.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of nab
- nabs present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- nabbing participle, present
- nabbed participle, past
- knab
- nab-
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does nab mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
informalTo seize, arrest or take into custody (a criminal or fugitive).
As I was going out of the door, a fellow detective came hurriedly in. "Nabbed them," cried he.
- 2
informalTo grab or snatch something.
- 3
To steal or copy another user's post.
noun
- 1
The summit of a hill.
- 2
The cock of a gunlock.
- 3
The keeper, or box into which the lock is shot.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Nab in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does nab come from?
From dialectal nap (“to seize, lay hold of”), probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Swedish nappa (“to pluck, pinch”). Related to Danish nappe (“to tweak, snatch at, catch, seize”), Swedish nappa (“to take, grab, pinch”), Norwegian Bokmål nappe (“to grab, snatch, pluck, yank”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).