Sekirov Dictionary

hostage

UK /ˈhɒs.tɪd͡ʒ/US /ˈhɑs.tɪd͡ʒ/

noun 5
verb 2
forms 3

noun5

•
a person caught and kept by force to make others act, because the person's life is in danger if they refuse
- For example, a subject surprised in the act of robbery may take a hostage to use as a shield. — 2013
•
A person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or similar agreement, such as to ensure the status of a vassal.
- The putative force of hostageship as a form of surety lay in the threat to the life of the hostage in case of default; ties of blood magnified the threat, hence the prevalence of sons as hostages. — 2012
•
One who is compelled by something, especially something that poses a threat; one who is not free to choose their own course of action.
- Can he change the situation significantly or is he a hostage to a system that is resistant to dismantling? — 2015
•
Something that constrains one's actions because it is at risk.
- “Oh, well,” I consented sadly, “the garden will lose half of its charm, but such, I suppose, is my hostage to prosperity.” — 1929
•
The condition of being held as security or to compel someone else to act or not act in a particular way.
- This is what my mother must have been like when she was twelve—that is, minus the dark hair and upside-down smile and the wild animal held in hostage. — 2015

verb2

•
(nonstandard) To hold (someone or something) hostage, especially in a way that constrains or controls the person or thing held, or in order to exchange for something else.
- Thus, via the Arusha Declaration the Tanzania Government were demonstrating that its country's development would not be hostaged to the capriciousness of the West. — 1987
(nonstandard) To give (someone or something) as a hostage to (someone or something else).

forms

hostaged · hostaging · hostages

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