Associations to the word «Hostage»

Wiktionary

HOSTAGE, noun. 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.
HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR, noun. (politics) (legal) A person who negotiates with a person, or groups of persons, for the release of a person, or groups of persons.
HOSTAGE NEGOTIATORS, noun. Plural of hostage negotiator
HOSTAGE TAKER, noun. Alternative spelling of hostage-taker
HOSTAGE TAKERS, noun. Plural of hostage taker

Dictionary definition

HOSTAGE, noun. A prisoner who is held by one party to insure that another party will meet specified terms.

Wise words

Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.
Nathaniel Hawthorne