hostage

Definition of Hostage in English :

1. hostage, surety

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

WordNet Lexical Database for English. Princeton University. 2010.

Hostage

noun

1.

a person given to or held by a person, organization, etc, as a security or pledge or for ransom, release, exchange for prisoners, etc

2.

the state of being held as a hostage

3.

any security or pledge

4. give hostages to fortune

noun

1.

a person given as a pledge, or taken prisoner as by an enemy or terrorist, until certain conditions are met

2. Obsolete

the state of being a hostage

n.

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

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

3. One that is under the constraining control of another: "In becoming a mother one becomes a hostage to fortune" (Janna Malamud Smith).