Word.ws English Dictionary

taking hostage

taking hostage is the present participle and gerund of take hostage.

Meaning of take hostage

Verb

take hostage (third-person singular simple present takes hostage, present participle taking hostage, simple past took hostage, past participle taken hostage)

  1. (transitive) To take custody or possession of a person as security for performance against a treaty, a pledge, or a demand, especially now an extra-legal demand; to take as hostage.

Questions about taking hostage

What is taking hostage the present participle and gerund of?
Taking hostage is the present participle and gerund of take hostage.

Words near taking hostage in the dictionary

  1. taking heed
  2. taking hold
  3. taking holy orders
  4. taking home
  5. taking horse
  6. taking hostage
  7. taking huff
  8. taking ill
  9. taking in
  10. taking in hand
  11. taking into account

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taking hostage (page history and authors); take hostage (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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