hostage-taking

/ˈhɒstɪdʒ teɪkɪŋ/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈhɑːstɪdʒ teɪkɪŋ/ (ame, ipa)

hostage-taking — 名詞

1. the crime of seizing one or more people and refusing to release them unless cert

1.名詞C1
釋義

劫持人質

扣押人質以脅迫他人滿足要求的犯罪行為

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.

例句

The bank hostage-taking in central Berlin ended after nine tense hours of negotiation.

柏林市中心的銀行劫持人質事件，在歷經九小時緊張談判後落幕。

noun head: 'the hostage-taking in [place]'

Arjun watched live coverage of the embassy hostage-taking with growing concern for the staff inside.

Arjun 看著大使館劫持人質的現場直播，越來越擔心裡面的工作人員。

compound noun: '[location] hostage-taking'

同義詞
  • 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

反義詞
  • 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.

常見錯誤

❌Three hostage-takings happened last year.
✅Three hostage-taking incidents happened last year.
💡the noun is normally uncountable; count separate events with 'incidents' or 'cases'.
❌He did a hostage-taking.
✅He carried out a hostage-taking.
💡collocate with 'carry out', 'commit', or 'engage in', not with 'do'.