Converse of object

• rescue: Several countries have used military force with varying degrees of success over the last three decades to rescue hostages.

• hold: Runaway claims she was held hostage... hospital for exam.

• kill: Lochiel and his men besieged the castle, whereupon Maclean killed the hostages.

• take: Taking hostages, Caesar returned to Gaul, where there was a grave threat of a Gallic uprising.

• shoot: Perhaps the crucial moment comes when Mickey and Mallory prepare to shoot a hostage after their dramatic prison break.

Preposition: at

• gunpoint: Video clip 1996 - VIOLENT FILM Series 19 opened with pupils watching a horror film showing a school bus taken hostage at gunpoint.

Adjective modifier

• held: They were both held hostage for some years in the Lebanon, in conditions similar to those in the play.

• innocent: Airplanes filled with innocent hostages became guided missiles, aimed straight for our hearts.

• Italian: That is not to dilute the horror of what happened to Ken Bigley or the brave Italian hostage.

• Western: Four days later the last Western hostages were released from Lebanon.

• un: The Serbs released the UN hostages, fearing further NATO attacks.

• American: A fourth American hostage, Tom Fox, was confirmed dead two weeks ago.

Modifies a noun

• taker: One further crew member remains in the hands of the hostage takers.

• negotiator: I've been a trained hostage negotiator for 12 years.

• taking: These cover a range of activities, such as hijacking, hostage taking, bombing, and terrorism financing.

• ordeal: Read More Blackout: the safest way to report a hostage ordeal?

• rescue: It is a hostage rescue map, where the hostages are inside a fort which is covered in snow.

• crisis: The current hostage crisis has also clearly exposed the alleged " training " role of British troops in Sierra Leone.

Noun used with modifier

• rescue: Mission objectives are various: make profit, search and destroy, rescue hostages and rob the banks.

Preposition: by

• terrorist: At the moment the future of the innocent is held hostage by the terrorists.