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# hostage

«hostage» in Mova's school dictionary: **a person who is held prisoner by someone who will not let…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a hostage, hostages)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A hostage is a person who is held prisoner by someone who will not let them go until they get what they want. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hostage/#m1)

2) To take someone hostage, or hold someone hostage, is to capture and keep them like this. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hostage/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In history and news, hostages are taken in wars, by kidnappers or by terrorists; it is a crime under the law of every country, and governments work hard to free them. News reports of conflicts say who is being held and what each side says. In stories, a hostage raises the stakes for the hero. Figuratively, «held hostage» can mean controlled by something: «held hostage by the weather». Phrases: «take hostage», «hold hostage», «release the hostages», «hostage crisis».

### examples

- The robbers took two people hostage in the bank. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hostage/#x1)
- The hostages were released after many days. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hostage/#x2)
- Families waited for news of the hostages. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hostage/#x3)
- In the film, the hero rescued the hostage from the castle. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hostage/#x4)
- Taking hostages is a serious crime. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hostage/#x5)
- (figurative) Our picnic was held hostage by the rain. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hostage/#x6)
- They even owed something to their landlord, who kept them as hostages till they could pay their debts. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hostage/#x7)

### note

Plural: «hostages». Pattern: «take/hold someone hostage» (no «as»). In news, reports often say how many hostages were taken and who says what; stick to what is reported. Not the same as a prisoner of war, who is a soldier captured in a war.

### In the corpora

- [Israel then bombed Gaza and sent in soldiers to fight Hamas and bring the hostages home.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/26-israel-and-gaza-what-happened-as-widely-reported/3/)
- [Like a friend who is sad for two cousins at once, your heart can hold the hostages and the children of Gaza together.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/politics/27-israel-and-gaza-at-school-and-online/7/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «hostage» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hostage/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.