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hostage Definition

hos·tage (häs′tij)

noun

  1. a person given as a pledge, or taken prisoner as by an enemy or terrorist, until certain conditions are met
  2. Obsolete the state of being a hostage

Etymology: ME < OFr < hoste: see host

hostage Idioms

give hostages to fortune

to get and be responsible for a family; esp., children

hostage Synonyms

hostage

n.

security, guaranty, captive, prisoner, pawn, scapegoat, victim of a kidnapping, sacrificial victim; see also pledge. See syn. study at pledge.

hostage Usage Examples

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.
hostage Quotes

A great nation betrayed the principles which have made it great, and thereby became hostage to hostage-takers.

—Inouye, Daniel Ken