Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use hostage in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Hostage means a person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or similar agreement, such as to ensure the status of a vassal. Example: “The bank robbers have three hostages inside, so we're going to have to play this very carefully.”

Examples of hostage by meaning

nounA person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or similar agreement, such as...

  • The putative force of hostageship as a form of surety lay in the threat to the life of the hostage in case of default; ties of blood magnified the threat, hence the prevalence of sons as hostages.2012, Adam J. Kosto, Hostages in the Middle Ages, page 199

nounA person seized in order to compel another party to act (or refrain from acting) in a certain way, because of the...

  • For example, a subject surprised in the act of robbery may take a hostage to use as a shield.2013, James L Greenstone, The Elements of Police Hostage and Crisis Negotiations, page 1
  • One of the hostages pretends to be pregnant and is released at Benghazi Airport, where the aircraft refuels.2014, Tony Shaw, Cinematic Terror: A Global History of Terrorism on Film, page 130
  • With a ski mask pulled tightly down across his face, an uninvited guest was dragging his petrified hostage down the hall on the thirty-eighth floor towards the Presidential Suite.2016, James Patterson, The Hostage: BookShots

nounSomething that constrains one's actions because it is at risk.

  • “Oh, well,” I consented sadly, “the garden will lose half of its charm, but such, I suppose, is my hostage to prosperity.”1929, Forest and Outdoors - Volume 25, page 408
  • I, too, have a hostage to the future in my large family, as you have, and my only personal satisfaction is that I will leave the heritage to them that I did the best I could for a great nation.2001, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Amanda Smith, Hostage to Fortune: The Letters of Joseph P. Kennedy, page 219
  • With a world in flux, many believed that such a doctrine risked offering a hostage to fortune that may be rendered irrelevant by a rapidly transforming world environment.2015, James D. Boys, Clinton's Grand Strategy, page 82

nounOne who is compelled by something, especially something that poses a threat; one who is not free to choose their own...

  • Can he change the situation significantly or is he a hostage to a system that is resistant to dismantling?2015, Sebastien Peyrouse, Turkmenistan
  • As a result, the country became a hostage to the International Monetary Fund, which dictated that its government cut back on public spending, reduce subsidies on basic foodstuffs and orient the economy towards producing export goods.2015, W. J. Berridge, Civil Uprisings in Modern Sudan, page 42

nounThe condition of being held as security or to compel someone else to act or not act in a particular way.

  • Rather was she seized and held in hostage.1953, New York (State) Court of Appeals, New York Court of Appeals. Records and Briefs, page 37
  • On every dimension, one could argue, they engaged in less hostage capital.2011 October 25, Douglas W. Allen, The Institutional Revolution, Measurement and the Economic Emergence of the Modern World, University of...
  • This is what my mother must have been like when she was twelve—that is, minus the dark hair and upside-down smile and the wild animal held in hostage.2015, Sarah Elizabeth Schantz, Fig, page 138

verbTo hold (someone or something) hostage, especially in a way that constrains or controls the person or thing held, or in...

  • Flexibility of hours is now hostaged to availability of work.1983, Nursing Mirror
  • Thus, via the Arusha Declaration the Tanzania Government were demonstrating that its country's development would not be hostaged to the capriciousness of the West.1987, Susan Catherine Crouch, Western responses to Tanzanian socialism, 1967-83, Gower Pub Co, →ISBN
  • Warning the United States against further intervention, the Reformist Forces said: “Never again shall the Filipino be hostaged to foreign might.1989, Daily Report: East Asia

More sentences with hostage

  • The bank robbers have three hostages inside, so we're going to have to play this very carefully.From the entry play
  • The hostage was delivered from her captors and thus preserved from any danger.From the entry deliver
  • Once he had grasped the controls, he unleashed a demonic laugh that made his hostages shudder.From the entry demonic
  • As they were being decoyed, the rescue team carried the hostage and quietly slipped away.From the entry decoy
  • He was very cautious with his words and gave no hostages to fortune.From the entry hostage to fortune
  • Before Frank could turn in his final exam, Jigsaw held his computer hostage.From the entry hold hostage
  • The bank robber decided to take a hostage in order to raise the stakes.From the entry raise the stakes
  • The hostage taker decided to surrender to the police.From the entry taker
  • The hostage is expected to be released later today.From the entry expect
  • The hostages were delivered up to the waiting agents.From the entry deliver up to
  • The hostages' hands were left unbound.From the entry unbound
  • She was his literal hostage yet they glorify it calling Aemond “based” and a “milf enjoyer”.2024 May 1, houseofnim, Reddit. From the entry Alysmond
  • The Hero and Leah arrive in time to see a number of snakemen holding Adria hostage.2012, Doug Walsh, Rick Barba, Diablo III® Signature Series Guide, DK/BradyGAMES, →ISBN, page 188. From the entry snakeman
  • The Iranian hostage crisis was at the forefront of my mind.2010, George W. Bush, Decision Points, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 426. From the entry Hainan
  • That way, a taxidriver cannot hold the traveler's luggage hostage in the trunk for more money.2009, Brian R. Johnson, Brian Kingshott, Safe Overseas Travel: Maximizing Enjoyment by Minimizing Risk. From the entry hold hostage
  • She obviously was not aware that she was going to be held hostage for a few days.2008, Yutaka Harold Yoneyama, “University of Toronto”, in An Evacuee’s Memoir: An Account from the Writer's Own Recollection, Toronto…. From the entry skule
  • To a certain extent, politics has become an hostage of the news media.2005, Philippe Maarek, Gadi Wolfsfeld, Political Communication in a New Era, →ISBN. From the entry scandalism
  • This is a variation of the Helsinki Syndrome, in which hostages come to sympathize with their captors.2001, Quinton Skinner, Do I Look Like a Daddy to You?:, page 90. From the entry Helsinki syndrome
  • And had she even once mentioned that in reality Beauty was a hostage suffering from Helsinki syndrome?2001, Lynda Simmons, Just the Way You Aren't, page 117. From the entry Helsinki syndrome
  • Does this country have a race problem or are we all held hostage to a "victicrat" mentality?2000, Larry Elder, The Ten Things You Can't Say in America, page 4. From the entry victicrat
  • The victims of the catastrophe are, like hostages, stand-ins for the original enemy.1986, John Money, Lovemaps, page 92. From the entry symphorophilia
  • Earlier the hostage, Laurelyn Carlisle, a management teacher, 33, had been shot in the stomach.1985 February 15, AP [Associated Press], “Around the Nation: Gunman Shoots Himself After Campus Siege”, in The New York Times, New York…. From the entry Laurelyn
  • While placatory on the hostages, Raja'i dismissed any possibility of a ceasefire in the war.1980 October 27, Marguerite Johnson et al., “Trying to Tighten the Noose”, in Time. From the entry placatory
  • "California cannot afford to be held hostage by NIMBYs who weaponize CEQA to block student and affordable housing.2023 March 1, Aaron Kliegman, “Newsom declares war on environmentalists seeking to halt construction project”, in Fox News, archived from…. From the entry selfish
  • First, those of us who get the jab should not be held hostage by those who refuse it.2021 May 23, Peter FitzSimons, “I’ve got a plan to get all the anti-jabbers to get their shots”, in The Sydney Morning Herald. From the entry anti-jabber

Meaning of hostage

  1. noun A person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or similar agreement, such as to ensure the status of a vassal.
  2. noun A person seized in order to compel another party to act (or refrain from acting) in a certain way, because of the threat of harm to the hostage.
  3. noun Something that constrains one's actions because it is at risk.

Full definition of hostage

Questions about hostage in a sentence

How do you use hostage in a sentence?
Hostage is used as a noun and verb. For example: “The bank robbers have three hostages inside, so we're going to have to play this very carefully.”
What is a short sentence with hostage?
“The hostages' hands were left unbound.”
What does hostage mean?
Hostage means a person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or similar agreement, such as to ensure the status of a vassal.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hostage (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use hostage in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/hostage. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.