hostage-taking
/ˈhɒstɪdʒ teɪkɪŋ/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈhɑːstɪdʒ teɪkɪŋ/ (ame, ipa)
hostage-taking — noun
1. the crime of seizing one or more people and refusing to release them unless cert
the crime of seizing one or more people and refusing to release them unless certain demands — usually money, political concessions, or the freeing of allies — are met.
The bank hostage-taking in central Berlin ended after nine tense hours of negotiation.
noun head: 'the hostage-taking in [place]'
Arjun watched live coverage of the embassy hostage-taking with growing concern for the staff inside.
compound noun: '[location] hostage-taking'
International law treats hostage-taking as a serious crime, regardless of who carries it out.
Dahlia's research focused on hostage-taking by armed groups in conflict zones across three decades.
The wave of hostage-taking during the 1970s changed how many governments handled airport security.
- kidnapping
broader; covers any abduction, not necessarily tied to making demands
- abduction
neutral / legal term for unlawfully taking a person; no demand element implied
- hijacking
specifically seizing a vehicle (plane, ship) with people on board; one common method
- release
the act of letting captives go free
- liberation
rescuing or freeing captives, often by force or negotiation
文法句型
hostage-taking by [group]
the hostage-taking of [people]
用法筆記
Uncountable in most uses; treat as a mass concept. Frequently appears as the modified head of a noun phrase (the embassy/bank/airline hostage-taking) and in legal or news writing.