nabEnglishOxford New American Dictionarynab /nab, næb / ▸ verb (nabs, nabbing, nabbed) [with object] informal catch (someone) doing something wrong: Olympic drug tests nabbed another athlete yesterday. ▪ take, grab, or steal (something): Dan nabbed the seat next to mine. – ORIGIN late 17th century (also as napp; compare with kidnap): of unknown origin.