gank

verb

ˈgaŋk 

ganked; ganking; ganks

transitive verb

US slang

: to rob or defraud (someone)

… the wee hours when, we suppose, you're most susceptible to being ganked.

—Barry Saunders

also : to steal or take (something)

You don't know me, but you broke into my apartment recently. … Also, you ganked my Xbox, which may as well have been my first-born child.

—Geoff Johnston

The instrumentals are soothing and familiar; the guitar sounds like an old Telecaster playing riffs ganked from the early 1980s.

—MarieClaire Bousquette

Word History

Etymology

probably a phonesthemic coinage, with syllable final as in clank entry 1, crank entry 2, prank entry 1, skank entry 1, yank entry 1

First Known Use

1987, in the meaning defined above