Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A person held by one party in a conflict as security that specified terms will be met by the opposing party.
- n. One that serves as security against an implied threat: superpowers held hostage to each other by their nuclear arsenals.
- n. One that is manipulated by the demands of another: "National policies cannot be made hostage to another country” ( Alan D. Romberg).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A person given or held as a pledge of or security for the performance of certain stipulations, as those of a treaty, or the satisfaction of certain demands.
- n. A thing given as a pledge.
- To give as a hostage.
- n. An inn; a lodging.
Wiktionary
- n. A person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or stipulations of any kind, on the performance of which the person is to be released.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or stipulations of any kind, on the performance of which the person is to be released.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a prisoner who is held by one party to insure that another party will meet specified terms
Etymologies
- From Old French hostage (French: otage, from hoste or Late Latin obsidanus.) (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old French, probably from host, guest, host; see host1. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“And U.S. troops chasing down insurgents in Falluja say they have found what they call a hostage slaughterhouse.”
“Before I talk about the lines Obama quoted, however (I will have more to say about Sa'di and the rest of his work in another post) I want to acknowledge the importance of the message itself, not just because he sent it-and if you don't know much about US-Iranian relations beyond the facts of what we called the hostage crisis and the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution, you might not realize just how significant the simple fact of sending such a message is-but also because of”
“The Post's editorial board on Sunday blasted Landrieu's hold on Lew, stating that holding his nomination "hostage is not the right way to express that concern.”
The Washington Post: Landrieu explains why she's blocking Lew
“Kevin Blanco, meanwhile, having taken his rec pen hostage, is perched on top of that basketball hoop with an air of eremitic remoteness.”
“The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three (1974) - The responsibilities of the New York City Transit police are considerable, especially when a group of criminals takes a subway train hostage between stations.”
“John McCain was defined as a hostage of right-wing extremists by the time votes were cast in 2008; many centrist voters claimed that they would have voted for Mr. McCain "if only he had been the moderate John McCain of the 2000 primary campaign.”
The Wall Street Journal: Stay Constant, Mr. Romney, and Beware Demagogues
“But have you seen an enormous rise in hostage taking?”
“I can't really immagine Sienna with anyone whose names isn't Hawke, but I suppose it will be good for her to have some experience before Hawke .. mmmmm ... and it will be interesting read about Hawke reaction at this situation. then, I must add that as soon as you introduced Amara, (in hostage to pleasure), I was captivated by her. and i loved to rad about her interaction with Mercy in this book.”
“The act of shooting a man holding others hostage is good.”
“The use in hostage situations is not unprecedented however.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘hostage’.
-
Headlines & Newsmakers
frugality, environment, extinction, bible, killer, jazz, cloning, dead, god, moon, global warming, bailout and 340 more...
-
Unfamiliar Words
dank, refrain, hostage, frigid, warden, atrocious, squirm, kinship, riot, counterfeit, stamped, scaffolding and 58 more...
-
Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
contemplate, container, consumer, consultant, consensus, conscious, conscience, connection, confusion, confront, conflict, confident and 4334 more...
-
Words of the Day
glabella, chirotony, nook-shotten, crapehanger, filemot, swirlie, egosurf, lexiphanicism, Ruritanian, stichometry, chrononaut, faldstool and 1991 more...
-
ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
-
Rhymeless.
From wikipedia: "The following is a list of English words without rhymes, i.e. a list of words in the English language which rhyme with no other English words in the sense that they are pronounced ...
almond, angry, angst, anxious, aspirin, bachelor, breadth, bulb, bulbous, calumny, cannabis, caveat and 49 more...
-
people
authoress, arm candy, doppelganger, contender, portraitist, acolyte, hierophant, whistleblower, scrivener, querent, banshee, jester and 81 more...
-
Temporary Lodging
Hotels, inns, and the like.
hotel, resort hotel, holiday resort, motor hotel, tourist court, motel, inn, lodge, ski lodge, motor lodge, motor inn, resort and 52 more...
-
Stranger's Words XENO-tropes
hostile, hospitable words (many based upon the IE root (g)hosti-) and reactions to the stranger and other words about the qualities of the strange (unfamiliar).
guest, gastarbeiter, host, hostile, hospice, hospitable, hospital, hospitality, hostage, hostel, hostler, xenia and 14 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for hostage.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.