Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Showing results for hostage. Search instead for lostag.
Definitions

hostage

[hos-tij] / ˈhɒs tɪdʒ /
NOUN
person held captive until captor's demand is met
Synonyms
Antonyms


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:

We hold the most exceptional things among us hostage to the average, the ordinary, the mediocre.

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 three, snatched from their home, became symbols of the Gaza hostage crisis.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

The mission involved the office of Adam Boehler, the administration’s special envoy for hostage response, according to the U.S. officials.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

Yup, my life began during a hostage crisis, a revolution, and a war, which is why I didn't get to enter the world on my own time.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

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

"The troops engaged the terrorists with effective fire, forcing them to abandon the victims and flee into adjoining bushes," he said, noting that all the hostages had been recovered without any casualties.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

“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

She had asked Ser Barristan that question the afternoon the hostages went forth.

From "A Dance with Dragons" 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other hand, John Donvan conceded that there is a limit to living in the past—to hostaging yourself, for instance, to outdated agreements and other generations’ crimes.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

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




Vocabulary lists containing hostage


Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Just like flashcards, but way more fun

Don't take our word for it. Leave the boring studying behind and join VocabTrainer today. You'll learn even faster and never look back.

Take me to Vocabulary.com