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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.

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The idea is to avoid being held hostage by a major market correction or, worse, a recession by being forced to withdraw money during a down market.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026

This one is very real: a kind of Vision 2.0, rebuilt by the intelligence agency tasked with saving the New Jersey town Wanda took hostage to shore up her classic family sitcom simulation.

From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026

It helps you draw boundaries without being held hostage to accusations of selfishness.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

He smiled crookedly, wondering what his father would say when Theon told him that he, the last-born, babe and hostage, he had succeeded where Lord Balon himself had failed.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

Four bodies handed over to special forces on a mission to Haiti to recover Salvadoran hostages are "not our men", El Salvador's president has said.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026

Former hostages held in Gaza and their family members have written bestselling books and released music albums.

From The Wall Street Journal ● 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

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

By now, surely, all of her hostages would have been released.

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other hand, John Donvan conceded that there is a limit to living in the past—to hostaging yourself, for instance, to outdated agreements and other generations’ crimes.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

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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