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

No one should be held hostage to other people’s decisions or half-truths.

From MarketWatch

Canada should build "a domestic defense industrial base so we are never hostage to the decisions of others when it comes to our security," he said.

From Barron's

In 1991, Jackson tried to repeat his Syrian triumph, and visited Iraq on the eve of the Gulf War to plead with Saddam Hussein to release Western hostages.

From BBC

On Thursday, Long said: "We cannot continue to hold these cases hostage while we have a discussion about legal aid fees. It isn't ethical and it isn't appropriate."

From BBC

The book chronicles her "vague feelings" before the trial: "The closer it got, the more I imagined myself becoming a hostage to their stares, their lies, their cowardice, and their contempt," she wrote.

From Barron's

Related Words

• captive
• prisoner
• victim