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Showing results for hostage. Search instead for hostager.
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:

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

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

Or that the domestic-romantic subplot dropped into the middle of hostage negotiations doesn’t make for an inelegant construction.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Congresswoman Young Kim, the chairwoman of the subcommittee, opened the hearing by warning Americans: "If you travel to China, Beijing may take you hostage as leverage in diplomatic negotiation."

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

What to know: The fourth movie in the “Meet the Parents” canon pits Ben Stiller’s Gaylord Focker against his son’s girlfriend, a no-nonsense former FBI hostage negotiator played by Ariana Grande.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

The weekend escape had offered a break from both office and climate, each mile north taking her farther away from the steam heat that had held the area hostage for the last few days.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

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

“I will not say what he calls me. If you and I were the hostages, would he risk his skin for us?”

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other hand, John Donvan conceded that there is a limit to living in the past—to hostaging yourself, for instance, to outdated agreements and other generations’ crimes.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


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