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

Israel is yet to confirm Trump’s announcement but earlier, its United Nations ambassador told the BBC that the country is ready for a truce, albeit when all surviving hostages taken on Oct 7, 2023 are home. —Ben Smith, semafor.com, 3 July 2025

About 27 of those remaining hostages are believed to be dead. —Sophie Carson, jsonline.com, 3 July 2025

The war was triggered after the Hamas terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing over 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. —Callum Sutherland, Time, 3 July 2025

The person who threw Molotov cocktails at demonstrators attending a march for Israeli hostages in Colorado last month: that’s what globalizing the intifada looks like. —Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 2 July 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