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The debate we won't be having is whether or not the debt ceiling should be raised. We will not have a situation where people will hold the American economy hostage in order to achieve a specific agenda - at least not until 2013. So we think that is incredibly important as a matter of economic good.
Jay Carney

Meaning of "hostage" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD HOSTAGE

From Old French, from hoste guest, host1.
info
Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF HOSTAGE

hostage  [ˈhɒstɪdʒ] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF HOSTAGE

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Hostage is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES HOSTAGE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

hostage

Hostage

A hostage is a person or entity which is held by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war. However, in contemporary usage, it means someone who is seized by a criminal abductor in order to compel another party such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government to act, or refrain from acting, in a particular way, often under threat of serious physical harm to the hostage after expiration of an ultimatum. A person who seizes one or more hostages is known as a hostage-taker; if the hostages are present voluntarily, then the receiver is known as a host. ▪ Methods ▪ Tactics ▪ Agro-terrorism ▪ Aircraft hijacking ▪ Animal-borne bomb attacks ▪ Bioterrorism ▪ Car bombing ▪ Cyberterrorism ▪ Dirty bomb ▪ Dry run ▪ Explosive ▪ Hostage-taking ▪ Improvised explosive device ▪ Individual terror...

Definition of hostage in the English dictionary

The first definition of hostage in the dictionary is a person given to or held by a person, organization, etc, as a security or pledge or for ransom, release, exchange for prisoners, etc. Other definition of hostage is the state of being held as a hostage. Hostage is also any security or pledge.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH HOSTAGE


advantage
ədˈvɑːntɪdʒ
cottage
ˈkɒtɪdʒ
disadvantage
ˌdɪsədˈvɑːntɪdʒ
footage
ˈfʊtɪdʒ
forestage
ˈfɒrɪstɪdʒ
frontage
ˈfrʌntɪdʒ
heritage
ˈhɛrɪtɪdʒ
high-voltage
ˈhaɪˌvəʊltɪdʒ
lastage
ˈlɑːstɪdʒ
outage
ˈaʊtɪdʒ
percentage
pəˈsɛntɪdʒ
portage
ˈpɔːtɪdʒ
postage
ˈpəʊstɪdʒ
reportage
rɪˈpɔːtɪdʒ
shortage
ˈʃɔːtɪdʒ
vantage
ˈvɑːntɪdʒ
vestige
ˈvɛstɪdʒ
vintage
ˈvɪntɪdʒ
voltage
ˈvəʊltɪdʒ
wastage
ˈweɪstɪdʒ

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE HOSTAGE

host
host computer
host country
host family
hosta
hostel
hostel school
hosteler
hosteling
hosteller
hostelling
hostelries
hostelry
hostess
hostess trolley
hostie
hostile
hostile bid
hostile takeover bid
hostile witness

WORDS THAT END LIKE HOSTAGE

arena stage
backstage
centre stage
committee stage
downstage
interstage
key stage
landing stage
montage
multistage
offstage
onstage
planning stage
proof of postage
report stage
restage
sound stage
stage
substage
the stage
upstage

Synonyms and antonyms of hostage in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS OF «HOSTAGE»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «hostage» and belong to the same grammatical category.
synonyms of hostage

Translation of «hostage» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF HOSTAGE

Find out the translation of hostage to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of hostage from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «hostage» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

人质
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

rehén
570 millions of speakers

English

hostage
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

बंधक
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

رَهِينَةٌ
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

заложник
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

refém
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

জিম্মি
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

otage
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Tebusan
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Geisel
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

人質
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

인질
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Sandera
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

con tin
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

பணயக்கைதிகள்
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

ओलिस
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

rehin
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

ostaggio
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

zakładnik
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

заручник
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

ostatic
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

όμηρος
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

gyselaar
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

gisslan
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

gissel
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of hostage

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «HOSTAGE»

The term «hostage» is very widely used and occupies the 11.763 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Very widely used
95
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «hostage» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of hostage
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «hostage».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «HOSTAGE» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «hostage» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «hostage» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about hostage

EXAMPLES

10 QUOTES WITH «HOSTAGE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word hostage.
1
David Antin
It's hard being a hostage in somebody else's mouth - or a character in somebody else's novel.
2
Ibrahim Babangida
For as long as our people are held hostage by controllable socio-economic forces, we cannot afford to be indifferent to the ravages of poverty in all its dimensions and ramifications.
3
Benazir Bhutto
I have led an unusual life. I have buried a father killed at age 50 and two brothers killed in the prime of their lives. I raised my children as a single mother when my husband was arrested and held for eight years without a conviction - a hostage to my political career.
4
Jay Carney
The debate we won't be having is whether or not the debt ceiling should be raised. We will not have a situation where people will hold the American economy hostage in order to achieve a specific agenda - at least not until 2013. So we think that is incredibly important as a matter of economic good.
5
Tom Cole
If you think we are going to gain ground by holding the American people hostage, saying that their taxes are at risk, I actually disagree.
6
Martin Donovan
'Collaborator' is a hostage tragicomedy, but it's also, kind of, everything I know about post-war America. Well, not everything, but it does reference a lot of the post-war period.
7
Brad Garrett
I believe it's a real tedious hostage negotiation to have a marriage be what it is.
8
Alexander Haig
Then came the hostage crisis during which Carter did nothing to rattle the ayatollahs who hung tough until Ronald Reagan was inaugurated, when they suddenly backed down.
9
Sam Harris
Almost all our suffering is the product of our thoughts. We spend nearly every moment of our lives lost in thought, and hostage to the character of those thoughts. You can break this spell, but it takes training just like it takes training to defend yourself against a physical assault.
10
Martin Heinrich
We've clearly seen that Tea Party Republicans are willing to take our economy hostage just to score political points, but I'm not willing to do that.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «HOSTAGE»

Discover the use of hostage in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to hostage and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Hostage: A Novel
Hostage is a blistering stand-alone thriller with superb characters in crisis, multistranded plotting, and pitch-perfect Southern California sensibility. From the Hardcover edition.
Robert Crais, 2009
2
Hostage
When eleven-year-old Kaci interrupts burglars in the process of robbing her house, she and her nosy elderly neighbor Mrs. Banducci are kidnapped and held hostage by the desperate and ruthless criminals.
Willo Davis Roberts, 2000
3
Hostage
This incredible book retells the true-life account of three American missionaries who, while serving in the jungles of Panama, were kidnapped in January 1993 by leftist rebels.
Nancy Mankins, 2002
4
Hostage
When terrorists attack, JAG officer Zach Brewer faces a deadly choice. Save the woman he loves – or the lives of millions.
Don Brown, 2009
5
Taken Hostage: The Iran Hostage Crisis and America's First ...
The book paints a portrait of the 1970s in the United States as an era of failed expectations in a nation plagued by uncertainty and anxiety.
David Farber, 2009
6
Hostage: A Year at Gunpoint with Somali Pirates
The book chronicles the aftermath of the attack, and how the Chandlers' captors held them in Somalia for more than a year while trying to extort millions of dollars from their middle-class family.
Paul Chandler, Rachel Chandler, Sarah Edworthy, 2012
7
Hostage to History: Cyprus from the Ottomans to Kissinger
In a new preface for this 1997 edition, Hitchens reviews the implications of the Republic of Cyprus's applications for European union membership, the escalating regional arms race between Greece and Turkey, and last year's Greek Cypriot ...
‎1997
8
Children held hostage: dealing with programmed and ...
This is the first book to provide objective methods for establishing that a child has been brainwashed by one parent against another.
Stanley S. Clawar, Brynne Valerie Rivlin, American Bar Association. Section of Family Law, 1991
9
Hostage!
Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield, Bruce Patman, and Nicholas Morrow set out to rescue Regina Morrow, Nicholas' sister, and her parents who are being held hostage by desperate kidnappers.
Kate William, Francine Pascal, 1986
10
Hostage Three
It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing: a girl on a yacht with her super-rich banker father; a chance for the family to heal after a turbulent time; the peaceful sea, the warm sun .
Nick Lake, 2012

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «HOSTAGE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term hostage is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Man 'with explosives has hostage' in Bunbury, Western Australia
Police have confirmed they are aware of the identity of the man at the centre of the hostage drama and that “concerns are held for the safety of ... «NEWS.com.au, Jul 15»
2
Chris Brown hit a club as his aunt was 'held hostage' in his house …
Chris Brown's aunt was 'held hostage in a closet by armed intruders at his LA home while singer made club appearance'. The singer's mother ... «Daily Mail, Jul 15»
3
OPINION: Holding the truth hostage - Eyewitness News
Truth is the first casualty of war. It is also quick to fall in the bloodless but no less vicious diplomatic battles. The Chinese authorities are saying ... «Eyewitness News, Jul 15»
4
BREAKING: Siege situation developing near Bunbury CBD …
Bunbury hostage situation: Man with explosives near CBD ... A hostage situation is developing on the banks of Bunbury's Leschenault Inlet. «Bunbury Mail, Jul 15»
5
Update: Hostage crisis at doctor's office ends peaceably | Accidents …
Update: Hostage crisis at doctor's office ends peaceably. 1 hr ago; Comments. SWAT at Hospital. John Zsiray/Herald Journal. SWAT team ... «The Herald Journal, Jul 15»
6
No end in sight for Lebanese hostage dilemma: report - The Daily Star
No end in sight for Lebanese hostage dilemma: report. File - Families ... Lebanon hostage families plead with Qatari emir for help · Families of ... «The Daily Star, Jul 15»
7
Letter: Hostage situation had a backstory - The Post Star
I realize I'm responding to a cartoon coyote here and that should concern me. Anyway, that hostage-taking in 1979 had a backstory. «Glens Falls Post-Star, Jul 15»
8
Obama shuts down reporter on Iran hostage situation | Daily Mail …
Obama shuts down reporter on Iran hostage situation. U.S. President Barack Obama says it's 'nonsense' to believe he's content with the notion ... «Daily Mail, Jul 15»
9
Iran Hostage - Wealth Daily
I can't say I'm happy that a sitting U.S. president has bent over backwards to reach a deal with Iran that removes sanctions and greatly ... «Wealth Daily, Jul 15»
10
Report: Assailants Hold French Jewish Family Hostage at Home …
At least two assailants bound and held a Jewish family hostage in their home on Wednesday and beat their victims, in what French police say ... «Algemeiner, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Hostage [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/hostage>. Apr 2024 ».
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