Word.ws English Dictionary

hold for ransom

hold for ransom is the alternative form of hold to ransom.

Meaning of hold to ransom

Verb

hold to ransom (third-person singular simple present holds to ransom, present participle holding to ransom, simple past and past participle held to ransom)

  1. (UK, transitive) To hold (someone) hostage until a ransom is paid.
    Synonyms:
    hold hostage

Forms of hold for ransom

third-person singular presentholds for ransom
present participleholding for ransom
past participleheld for ransom
pastheld for ransom

Questions about hold for ransom

What is hold for ransom the alternative form of?
Hold for ransom is the alternative form of hold to ransom.

Words near hold for ransom in the dictionary

  1. hold down
  2. hold down the fort
  3. hold fast
  4. hold fire
  5. hold firm
  6. hold for ransom
  7. hold forth
  8. hold good
  9. hold hands
  10. hold hard
  11. hold harmless

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hold for ransom (page history and authors); hold to ransom (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “hold for ransom.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hold_for_ransom. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.