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:
Or that the domestic-romantic subplot dropped into the middle of hostage negotiations doesn’t make for an inelegant construction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
It helps you draw boundaries without being held hostage to accusations of selfishness.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
The last living hostages from Nir Oz were returned to Israel on 13 October 2025 and the remains of the last deceased hostage, Amiram Cooper, were brought back two weeks later.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
They include Gadi Moses, another kibbutz co-founder, and the oldest living male hostage released during the Gaza war, and Yair Horn, who stops to chat with the Aharons as he passes in a golf buggy.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Shortly after this reopening came the 1983 incident in which Sergeant Wickersham and sixteen others were held hostage.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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
This anniversary of the attacks is the first with no hostages remaining in Gaza.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 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
And they left hostages like me waiting longer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
"If we're two hostages to the good, all the more reason Lord Walder dare not play us false. Bolton needs Frey's men, and Ser Helman's as well. I've commanded him to retake Harrenhal."
From "A Clash of Kings" 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
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
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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.
