hostage

 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++hos·tage /ˈhɒstɪdʒ $ ˈhɑː-/ ●○○ noun [countable]  1  KEEP somebody IN A PLACEsomeone who is kept as a prisoner by an enemy so that the other side will do what the enemy demands 人质 → kidnap The group are holding two tourists hostage (=keeping them as hostages). 这伙人挟持了两名游客作为人质。 a family taken hostage at gunpoint 在枪口下被劫为人质的一家人2  be (a) hostage to something to be influenced and controlled by something, so that you are not free to do what you want 受制于某事 Our country must not be held hostage to our past. 我们的国家决不要被过去所束缚。3. a hostage to fortune RISKsomething that you have promised to do that may cause you problems in the future 可能招致后患的承诺

Examples from the Corpus

hostage• The government radio said 32 hostages had been released by 11 a. m., but that could not be confirmed.• An attempt to rescue the American hostages ended in disaster when a helicopter crashed.• When in residence, their occupants were under surveillance; when absent, they left their families as hostages.• We must exchange hostage for hostage.• They may then have been required to give hostages as a guarantee of future good behaviour.• A British journalist was held hostage for over four years.• For a politician to have a clear objective is to offer hostages to his opponents.• The medical team were captured and taken hostage.• Later, Cyrus and Poe must stop Johnny from raping a female prison official whom the prisoners have taken hostage.• The group has threatened to kill the hostages unless the government frees 15 political prisoners.• The terrorists say that they will kill the hostages if we don't agree to their demands.holding ... hostage• Paris children held hostage An masked man armed with a revolver is holding twenty-five children hostage in a nursery school in Paris.• Don Nickles, R-Okla. who is holding the bill hostage because Sen.• One is the extent of her familiarity with Nestor Cerpa Cartolini, the leader of the rebels holding the hostages.• She smiled, holding me hostage with her piercing eyes.• He then called 911 to tell police he was holding the hostages.Origin hostage (1200-1300) Old French hoste; → HOST1

hos·tage nounChineseSyllable  

by kept Corpus prisoner someone as is who a an

hostage
hos‧tage /ˈhɒstɪdʒ $ ˈhɑː-/ noun [countable]1. someone who is kept as a prisoner by an enemy so that the other side will do what the enemy demands ⇨ kidnap:
    The group are holding two tourists hostage (=keeping them as hostages).
    a family taken hostage at gunpoint
2. be (a) hostage to something to be influenced and controlled by something, so that you are not free to do what you want:
    Our country must not be held hostage to our past.
3. a hostage to fortune something that you have promised to do that may cause you problems in the future
     

THESAURUS

   ▪ prisoner someone who is kept in a prison as a punishment for a crime, or while they are waiting for their trial: Prisoners may be locked in their cells for twenty-two hours a day. | a prisoner serving a life sentence for murder
   ▪ convict especially written someone who has been found guilty of a crime and sent to a prison. Convict is used especially about someone who is sent to prison for a long time. It is more commonly used in historical descriptions, or in the phrase an escaped convict: The convicts were sent from England to Australia. | Police were hunting for an escaped convict. | Low-risk convicts help to fight forest fires and clean up public lands.
   ▪ inmate someone who is kept in a prison or a mental hospital: Some inmates are allowed to have special privileges. | He was described by a fellow inmate as a quiet man.
   ▪ captive especially literary someone who is kept somewhere and not allowed to go free, especially in a war or fighting. Captive is a rather formal word which is used especially in literature: Their objective was to disarm the enemy and release the captives. | She was held captive (=kept as a prisoner) in the jungle for over three years.
   ▪ prisoner of war a soldier, member of the navy etc who is caught by the enemy during a war and kept in the enemy’s country: My grandad was a prisoner of war in Germany. | They agreed to release two Iranian prisoners of war.
   ▪ hostage someone who is kept somewhere as a prisoner, in order to force people to agree to do something, for example in order to get money or to achive a political aim: Diplomats are continuing their efforts to secure the release of the hostages. | The US hostages were held in Tehran for over a year.
   ▪ detainee/internee someone who is kept in a prison, usually because of their political views and often without a trial: In some cases, political detainees have been beaten or mistreated. | 23,531 people passed through the camps between 1944 and 1962, including 14,647 political internees. | the detainees at Guantanamo Bay

hos·tageBrE /ˈhɒstɪdʒ/ 🔊NAmE /ˈhɑːstɪdʒ/ 🔊 nouna person who is captured and held prisoner by a person or group, and who may be injured or killed if people do not do what the person or group is asking 人质◆Three children were taken hostage during the bank robbery. 在银行抢劫案中有三名儿童被扣为人质。🔊🔊◆He was held hostage for almost a year. 他被扣为人质几近一年。🔊🔊◆The government is negotiating the release of the hostages. 政府正就释放人质进行谈判。🔊🔊

alert, assassinate, attack, campaign, execute, extremist, hijack, hostage, kidnap, terrorism

●a ˌhostage to ˈfortunesomething that you have, or have promised to do, that could cause trouble or worry in the future 可能招惹麻烦（或担忧）的东西（或许诺）；造成后患的事物