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

Pakistani security forces killed five militants in an intense shootout and freed 23 hostages in the country’s restive southwest, the military said Sunday. — ABC News, 20 Sep. 2026

The following August, six Israeli hostages were executed by Hamas in a tunnel in Rafah, after more than three hundred days in captivity. — Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2026

Sullivan and Burford determined the safest way to continue their work was to go independent, where state leaders couldn’t hold collections hostage. — Charlotte Observer, 19 Sep. 2026

Soon, he and two other guests are taken hostage by Joan (Taylor-Joy) and her radical followers, who believe that a volcanic event will cleanse the planet. — Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 16 Sep. 2026

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