1-Stop Dictionary Reference

Hostage

Acceptable For Game Play - US & UK word lists

This word is acceptable for play in the US & UK dictionaries that are being used in the following games:

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

n. A person held by one party in a conflict as security that specified terms will be met by the opposing party.

n. One that serves as security against an implied threat: superpowers held hostage to each other by their nuclear arsenals.

n. One that is manipulated by the demands of another: "National policies cannot be made hostage to another country” ( Alan D. Romberg).

Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

n. A person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or stipulations of any kind, on the performance of which the person is to be released.

the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

n. A person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or stipulations of any kind, on the performance of which the person is to be released.

The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

n. A person given or held as a pledge of or security for the performance of certain stipulations, as those of a treaty, or the satisfaction of certain demands.

n. A thing given as a pledge.

To give as a hostage.

n. An inn; a lodging.

WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

n. a prisoner who is held by one party to insure that another party will meet specified terms

Word Usage

"And U.S. troops chasing down insurgents in Falluja say they have found what they call a hostage slaughterhouse."

Hypernym

Words that are more generic or abstract

captive prisoner

Cross Reference

give hostage to fortune

Form

otage

Synonym

Words with the same meaning

pledge

Same Context

Words that are found in similar contexts

captive prisoner refugee colonist envoy