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🇮🇳Hindi Source WordCode: HI

बंधक

Pronunciation / Transliteration: bandhak

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Hostage/ˈhɒs.tɪdʒ/
nounCEFR B2 (Upper)Top #4120 frequency
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🇮🇳 Example Sentence in Hindi:

"आतंकवादियों ने कई लोगों को बंधक बना लिया।"

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A person seized or held as security for the fulfillment of a demand or condition.

    "The armed robbers took three bank employees and two customers hostage during the attempted heist."
  2. 2

    A person or thing that is in the power of an unavoidable force or circumstance.

    "He felt like a hostage to fortune, completely dependent on the unpredictable whims of the stock market."
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Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the Old French word 'hostage', which stems from the Late Latin 'obsidaticus' (pertaining to a hostage), coming from 'obses' (hostage, surety). The term entered the English language in the 15th century, initially denoting a person given as a pledge or security for the performance of conditions, before evolving to its modern primary sense of a captive held by force.

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Explore Nuanced Synonyms for "Hostage"

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