hostage

American  

[hos-tij] / ˈhɒs tɪdʒ /

noun

hostages plural

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

Derived Forms

• hostageship
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hostages
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hostage hostages hostaging

The bizarre hostage crisis unfolded like a scene from a movie.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026

He tells me it felt like the digital world was holding him hostage.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026

You should not be held hostage to other people’s emotional drama or debts.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 2026

"We are seeing certain countries holding the process hostage as vulnerable people suffer heat stress, and king tides and storms, drought and famine," he said.

From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 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

“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

Friday, the two hostages were released, and at 2:30 a.m. the Hendricksons exited the trailer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026

Ronald Reagan tried as well, and the Iran-Contra affair sprung from misguided hopes of getting the regime to free other U.S. hostages, and from there move past hostility.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026

The remaining hostages released on Wednesday were unharmed, police said.

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026

Enthusiasm, in Sprat’s view, by making false claims of divine intervention in the world, simply offered hostages to unbelief.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

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

Related Words

• captive
• prisoner
• victim