as in prisoners
one that has been taken and held in confinement
the captives in the concentration camp had devised a daring plan of escape
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Recent Examples of captives
Hamas committed to returning all living and deceased captives being held in the strip as part of the ceasefire deal reached earlier this month.
—
David Brennan, ABC News, 27 Oct. 2025
After two years of relentless violence, a fragile and uncertain ceasefire has settled over Gaza, bringing joyous scenes of Israeli captives reuniting with their families and of Palestinian prisoners returning home after years of detention.
—Lydia Polgreen, Mercury News, 25 Oct. 2025
The comments came as Israel and Hamas exchanged the bodies of captives, a key demand of the truce.
—Ben Smith, semafor.com, 24 Oct. 2025
As a result, around 1,600 Taínos across Hispaniola became captives—of these, 550 were sent to Spain and 650 given to settlers.
—Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
Two other captives were women who had allegedly been romantically involved with Birchfield, the outlet reported.
—Kc Baker, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2025
Israel on Tuesday received the coffins of two hostages returned from Gaza through the Red Cross, as officials said the remains will be identified before being released to their families as the military vowed to keep working to bring home all remaining captives.
—Greg Wehner , Yael Halon, FOXNews.com, 21 Oct. 2025
Monday’s deal saw the return of 20 living Israeli hostages and the beginning of the repatriation of the bodies of the 28 dead captives who were held in Gaza during the devastating war as part of a ceasefire deal that, at press time, appeared to be holding.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 16 Oct. 2025
All living hostages have been released, but there have been concerns about whether Hamas can retrieve the bodies of deceased captives.
—Ross O'Keefe, The Washington Examiner, 16 Oct. 2025
David Brennan, ABC News, 27 Oct. 2025
After two years of relentless violence, a fragile and uncertain ceasefire has settled over Gaza, bringing joyous scenes of Israeli captives reuniting with their families and of Palestinian prisoners returning home after years of detention.
—Lydia Polgreen, Mercury News, 25 Oct. 2025
The comments came as Israel and Hamas exchanged the bodies of captives, a key demand of the truce.
—Ben Smith, semafor.com, 24 Oct. 2025
As a result, around 1,600 Taínos across Hispaniola became captives—of these, 550 were sent to Spain and 650 given to settlers.
—Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
Two other captives were women who had allegedly been romantically involved with Birchfield, the outlet reported.
—Kc Baker, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2025
Israel on Tuesday received the coffins of two hostages returned from Gaza through the Red Cross, as officials said the remains will be identified before being released to their families as the military vowed to keep working to bring home all remaining captives.
—Greg Wehner , Yael Halon, FOXNews.com, 21 Oct. 2025
Monday’s deal saw the return of 20 living Israeli hostages and the beginning of the repatriation of the bodies of the 28 dead captives who were held in Gaza during the devastating war as part of a ceasefire deal that, at press time, appeared to be holding.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 16 Oct. 2025
All living hostages have been released, but there have been concerns about whether Hamas can retrieve the bodies of deceased captives.
—Ross O'Keefe, The Washington Examiner, 16 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for captives
prisoners
Noun
-
There were also prisoners, paupers and unclaimed bodies who went into mass graves, including remains of 39,307 Catholics at Holy Cross.—
Chris Kenning,
USA Today,
25 Oct. 2025
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Some of the prisoners shot and killed two guards with an automatic pistol.—
Ella Gonzales,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
25 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Captives.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/captives. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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