hostage

noun

hos·​tage ˈhä-stij 

1

a

: a person held by one party in a conflict as a pledge pending the fulfillment of an agreement

b

: a person taken by force to secure the taker's demands

2

: one that is involuntarily controlled by an outside influence

Examples of hostage in a Sentence

The terrorists demanded a plane and a pilot in exchange for the hostages.

The hostage crisis is now entering its second week.

The passengers were taken hostage.

They were held hostage for several days.

Recent Examples on the Web

Trump souring on Gaza ceasefire over hostages' condition: 'Like Holocaust survivors' Roughly half all aluminum used in the U.S. is imported, with most of it coming from Canada. —Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY, 11 Feb. 2025

Five such exchanges have taken place so far, freeing 16 Israeli and five Thai hostages in exchange for more than 670 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. —Kat Lonsdorf, NPR, 11 Feb. 2025

The president also warned that those hostages still being held in Gaza may not be in good physical condition. —David Brennan, ABC News, 11 Feb. 2025

And many of the remaining Israeli hostages are also believed to be in even worse condition, the officials said. —Rob Picheta, CNN, 11 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English hostage, ostage, borrowed from Anglo-French, "lodging, residence, custody of a person held as security against fulfillment of an agreement, the person so held," from hoste "guest, host" + -age -age — more at host entry 1

Note: The peculiar sense shift apparently arose from the Old French use of hostage in verbal phrases such as prendre en hostage "to take in residence, lodge" in reference to the lodging of a person held as surety; the import of hostage was then transferred to the status of such a person, and finally to the actual person.

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing hostage

• a hostage to fortune
• hostage crisis

Kids Definition

hostage

noun

hos·​tage ˈhäs-tij 

: a person held captive as a pledge that promises will be kept or terms met by another