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:
Her husband's mother was a spokesperson for the group that took dozens of Americans captive during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
“Prices stay hostage to Hormuz transit data and any signal from the Iran-Oman channel. A durable reopening would cap upside, while further escalation points toward a retest of the $95 to $100/barrel band for Brent.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Their last two presidents, Jimmy Carter and Lyndon Johnson, had left office under the clouds of the Iran hostage crisis, in the case of the former, and Vietnam with the latter.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
It seems like every industry is being held hostage by artificial intelligence.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Calling them hostage photos was like saying we were “guards” in a “prison.”
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
“Once he became Middle East envoy and was given responsibility for the hostages, he became one of the most famous people in Israel overnight,” an Israeli journalist who has covered him told me.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
Such films have been funded in part by Sacramento’s business hostages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
He has urged the returned hostages to tell friends and family about their horrific experiences, he says, to discourage them from setting out on the same journey.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
Many of the hostages have now been released.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
By now, surely, all of her hostages would have been released.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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
In their minds, hostaging means trading -- and trading means talking.
From Time Magazine Archive
Q. Have you expressed that view of hostaging to President Bush?
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions 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.
