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hostage

hostage

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2008 | Copyright

hostage person held by another as a guarantee that certain actions or promises will or will not be carried out. During periods of internal turmoil, insurgents often seize hostages; recent examples include seizures of Americans and other foreigners by militants in Iran (1979-81) and Lebanon (1980s). Military forces often take hostages among civilians in an occupied country, in order to ensure the delivery of requisitions, to discourage hostile acts, or to take reprisals for hostile acts committed by unknown persons. In World War II, thousands of hostages were executed throughout Europe by the German authorities in an attempt to crush resistance movements. The Geneva Convention of 1949 forbade entirely the taking of civilian hostages. Criminals, especially when confronted by police, sometimes take hostages as "human shields" or as bargaining assets. In 1998 it was revealed that Israel was holding Lebanese hostages solely for use in prisoner exchanges or other deals with Lebanese guerrillas; their detainment was condoned by Israel's supreme court.

Ancient military custom regulated the behavior and treatment of hostages; originally a hostage was a person who had been delivered by one authority to another as a token of good faith, and was generally treated as an honored guest. However, he might be imprisoned or even executed if the agreement guaranteed by his person was broken. The code of honor was often very strictly observed in feudal times; thus, during the Hundred Years War, when the hostages sent to England in exchange for the release of John II of France escaped, King John felt bound to return to captivity in England. Until the 18th cent., hostages were often exchanged when treaties were concluded.

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hostage

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

hos·tage / ˈhästij/ • n. a person seized or held as security for the fulfillment of a condition: the kidnapper had instructed the hostage's family to drop the ransom at noon. PHRASES: hold (or take) someone hostage seize and keep someone as a hostage: they were held hostage by armed rebels taken hostage at gunpoint. a hostage to fortune an act, commitment, or remark that is regarded as unwise because it invites trouble or could prove difficult to live up to: making objectives explicit is to give a hostage to fortune.

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hostage

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

hostage †handing over of a person as a pledge; person thus held in pledge. XIII. — (O)F. (h)ostage (mod. otage) :- Rom. *obsidāticum, f. late L. obsidōtus hostageship, f. obses, obsid- hostage, f. OB + *sed- SIT; see -AGE. The initial h is by assim. to HOST2.
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T. F. HOAD. "hostage." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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hostage

The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military | 2001 | Copyright

hostage n. a person seized and held as a pledge that certain terms or agreements will be kept.

According to the rules of the Geneva Conventions, the taking of hostages is a forbidden act.
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hostage

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

hostage •passage •message, presage •sausage • dosage •misusage, usage •cartage •advantage, vantage •curettage • percentage • vestige •freightage • wastage •mintage, vintage •hermitage • baronetage • heritage •cottage, pottage, wattage •hostage •portage, shortage •outage • dotage • voltage • postage •anecdotage • footage • frontage •pilotage • parentage • Carthage •ravage, savage •salvage • selvedge • pavage • cleavage •lovage • language • sandwich •envisage, visage

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Hostages Rescued In Colombia After Long Captivity
Transcript from: Tell Me More; 7/3/2008
Hostage Situations in Detention Settings: Planning and Tactical Considerations
Magazine article from: The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin; 10/1/2008
Hostage-taking tests allies; Abductions expose new holes in security. Abizaid...
Newspaper article from: The Christian Science Monitor; 4/13/2004

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