Word.ws English Dictionary

holding to ransom

holding to ransom is the present participle and gerund 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

Questions about holding to ransom

What is holding to ransom the present participle and gerund of?
Holding to ransom is the present participle and gerund of hold to ransom.

Words near holding to ransom in the dictionary

  1. holding tight
  2. holding time
  3. holding times
  4. holding to
  5. holding to account
  6. holding to ransom
  7. holding together
  8. holding true
  9. holding up
  10. holding up a mirror to
  11. holding up as

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: holding to 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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