hostage

American  

[hos-tij] / ˈhɒs tɪdʒ /

noun

1. a person given or held as security for the fulfillment of certain conditions or terms, promises, etc., by another.

2. Archaic. a security or pledge.

3. Obsolete. the condition of a hostage.

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verb (used with object)

hostaged, hostaging

1. to give (someone) as a hostage.

   He was hostaged to the Indians.

hostage British  

/ ˈhɒstɪdʒ /

noun

1. a person given to or held by a person, organization, etc, as a security or pledge or for ransom, release, exchange for prisoners, etc

2. the state of being held as a hostage

3. any security or pledge

4. to place oneself in a position in which misfortune may strike through the loss of what one values most

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Other Word Forms

• hostageship noun

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

Example Sentences

Wordle even helped to end a 17-hour hostage ordeal and became the most Googled word of 2022.

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

Brendan O'Hara, vice chair of the all-parliamentary group for arbitrary detention and hostage affairs, previously told the BBC the Foremans were "innocent victims of a geopolitical power struggle".

From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026

Coyle, from Colorado, was arrested in January 2025, according to the Foley Foundation, which advocates for the release of Americans taken hostage or arbitrarily detained abroad.

From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026

The economic upheaval, and his response to the Iranian hostage crisis, were the biggest factors in his 1980 loss to Ronald Reagan.

From Salon • Mar. 15, 2026

He smiled crookedly, wondering what his father would say when Theon told him that he, the last-born, babe and hostage, he had succeeded where Lord Balon himself had failed.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

Related Words

• captive
• prisoner
• victim