to hijack
Loading your saved state.
to hijack
To violently and illegally take control of a vehicle, especially a ship or airplane.
Die Piraten versuchten, das Containerschiff vor der Küste Somalias zu kapern.
The pirates tried to hijack the container ship off the coast of Somalia.
to hijack
In a figurative sense, to unexpectedly and quickly take over or appropriate something that does not belong to you.
Er hat einfach unsere Projektidee gekapert und sie dem Chef als seine eigene verkauft.
He simply hijacked our project idea and sold it to the boss as his own.
The verb 'kapern' (to hijack) always requires an accusative object. You always hijack 'etwas' (something) or 'jemanden' (someone).
Die Hacker versuchten, das Computersystem zu kapern.
The hackers tried to hijack the computer system.
In its literal meaning, 'kapern' (to hijack) is used almost exclusively for vehicles. Typical objects are 'ein Schiff' (a ship), 'ein Flugzeug' (an airplane), or 'ein LKW' (a truck).
Die Entführer wollten ein Flugzeug kapern und in ein anderes Land fliegen.
The hijackers wanted to hijack an airplane and fly to another country.
You can recognize the figurative meaning from the object. If it is something abstract like 'eine Idee' (an idea), 'ein Projekt' (a project), or 'eine Diskussion' (a discussion), the figurative meaning is intended.
Sie hat die Diskussion gekapert und nur noch über ihr eigenes Thema gesprochen.
She hijacked the discussion and only talked about her own topic from then on.
to kidnap / hijack
With ships and airplanes, both entführen and kapern can refer to taking control of them by force. Kapern focuses particularly on gaining control of the vehicle, while entführen emphasizes that it is taken away from or diverted from its intended route.
Bewaffnete Männer kaperten das Flugzeug und übernahmen die Kontrolle im Cockpit.
Armed men hijacked the airplane and took control in the cockpit.
Bewaffnete Männer entführten das Flugzeug und zwangen den Piloten, ein anderes Ziel anzufliegen.
Armed men hijacked the airplane and forced the pilot to fly to a different destination.
