hostage
Americannoun
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hostages
plural
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a person given or held as security for the fulfillment of certain conditions or terms, promises, etc., by another.
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Archaic. a security or pledge.
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Obsolete. the condition of a hostage.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a person given to or held by a person, organization, etc, as a security or pledge or for ransom, release, exchange for prisoners, etc
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the state of being held as a hostage
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any security or pledge
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to place oneself in a position in which misfortune may strike through the loss of what one values most
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of hostage
1225–75; Middle English < Old French hostage ( h- by association with ( h ) oste host 2 ), ostage ≪ Vulgar Latin *obsidāticum state of being a hostage < Latin obsid- (stem of obses ) hostage (equivalent to ob- ob- + sid- sit 1 ) + -āticum -age
Explanation
A hostage is a prisoner taken by kidnappers and held until the kidnappers get whatever they’re asking for. If you refuse to empty the litter box, your roommate might take your cat as a hostage until you clean it. When hostages are taken, the hostage-takers often ask for ransom, which is money paid for the hostages. The funny thing about the movie Dog Day Afternoon is that when the bank robbers take hostages, the hostages don’t really want to leave because they sympathize with the robbers. People who take hostages might have other demands too. Unfortunately, hostages are not just in the movies, they’re abducted in real life for political and personal reasons.
Vocabulary lists containing hostage
Chapter 21: Age of Exploration and Trade
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocabulary for March 18–March 24, 2023
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"I Go Along" and "Theme for English B"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It helps you draw boundaries without being held hostage to accusations of selfishness.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
The last living hostages from Nir Oz were returned to Israel on 13 October 2025 and the remains of the last deceased hostage, Amiram Cooper, were brought back two weeks later.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
The mission involved the office of Adam Boehler, the administration’s special envoy for hostage response, according to the U.S. officials.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Seven minutes later, they changed the alert to a code signaling unlawful interference—used to describe attempts to jeopardize the safety of the airplane, like hijacking or hostage taking.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
I never feel like I’ve been taken hostage when it’s just us.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
The commission reviewed more than 10,000 photographs and video segments and collected more than 430 testimonies and interviews with survivors, witnesses, former hostages, experts and family members.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
The last live hostages were freed a year ago as part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal in which Hamas stopped firing into Israel.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
And they left hostages like me waiting longer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
"The troops engaged the terrorists with effective fire, forcing them to abandon the victims and flee into adjoining bushes," he said, noting that all the hostages had been recovered without any casualties.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
I staged a loud conversation with Professor McGonagall about the hostages who had been taken, and whether Potter would think to use gillyweed.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
On the other hand, John Donvan conceded that there is a limit to living in the past—to hostaging yourself, for instance, to outdated agreements and other generations’ crimes.
From Slate ● Jan. 11, 2012
Q. Have you expressed that view of hostaging to President Bush?
From Time Magazine Archive
In their minds, hostaging means trading -- and trading means talking.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
