I was held hostage at work once by belligerent armed thieves
jesus christ what was that like?
Horrifying! Being taken hostage by a criminal abductor and being under threat of serious harm is a bad situation
yeah it is. do hostage situations occur often in the US?
or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war."
A person who seizes one or more hostages is known as a hostage-taker; if the hostages are present voluntarily, then the receiver is known as a host.
Etymology.
The English word "hostage" derives from French "ostage", modern "otage", from Late Latin "obsidaticum" (Medieval Latin "ostaticum, ostagium"), the state of being an "obses" (plural "obsides"), "hostage
Hostage
A hostage is a person seized by a criminal abductor in order to compel another party such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or refrain from acting, in a certain way, often under threat of serious physical harm to the hostage(s) after expiration of an ultimatum. The 1911 edition of the "Encyclopædia Britannica" defines a hostage as "a person who is handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement,