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
We hold the most exceptional things among us hostage to the average, the ordinary, the mediocre.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
The postboxes for each household bear stickers put there after the attacks three years ago: red indicates those killed, and black those taken hostage.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 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
Bringing down a woman was not like to awe any northmen, if she knew the breed, and her worth as a hostage was less than naught.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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 ceasefire saw thousands of Palestinians held by Israel released in return for the remaining hostages held in Gaza.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 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
Ratcliffe has had some success dealing with the Kremlin, such as in helping secure the release of American hostages in Russia, U.S. officials said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Outside in the world, volcanoes erupted, governments rose and collapsed and bartered for hostages, rockets exploded, walls fell.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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
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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.
