名詞 hostage:

1. a prisoner who is held by one party to insure that another party will meet specified terms
   同義詞：surety

1. The terrorists are holding three men hostage.
   恐怖分子把三個人扣為人質(zhì)。
2. The hostage had a rifle levelled at his head.
   一枝步槍瞄準(zhǔn)著人質(zhì)的頭。
3. He kept the pilot as a hostage.
   他把駕駛員當(dāng)做人質(zhì)。
4. The company took the cars as hostage.
   公司把汽車當(dāng)做抵押品。

hos.tage

n.（名詞）
A person held by one party in a conflict as security that specified terms will be met by the opposing party.
人質(zhì)：被沖突一方扣押的人，以作為對方滿足其提出的條件的保證
One that serves as security against an implied threat:
制約物：對抗暗藏的威脅事物：
例句：
superpowers held hostage to each other by their nuclear arsenals.
超級大國因各自擁有核工廠而互相制約

One that is manipulated by the demands of another:
被控物：被另一事物的要求所操縱的事物：
例句：
.National policies cannot be made hostage to another country.(Alan D. Romberg)
.一個國家的政策不能被另一個國家所操縱.(艾倫D.龍伯格)

來源：
Middle English
中古英語
from Old French
源自 古法語
probably from host [guest, host] * see host
可能源自 host [客人，主人] *參見 host