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Ransom - What does it mean?

ransom | |

ransom

English

(wikipedia ransom)

Noun

(en-noun)
  • Money paid for the freeing of a hostage.
  • They were held for two million dollars ransom .
    They were held to ransom .
  • * 1674 , , Paradise Lost , Book XII:
  • Thy ransom paid, which man from death redeems.
  • * Sir J. Davies
  • His captivity in Austria, and the heavy ransom he paid for his liberty.
  • * 2010 , Caroline Alexander, The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer's Iliad :
  • As rich as was the ransom Priam paid for Hektor, Hermes says, his remaining sons at Troy “'would give three times as much ransom / for you, who are alive, were Atreus' son Agamemnon / to recognize you.'”
  • The release of a captive, or of captured property, by payment of a consideration.
  • prisoners hopeless of ransom
    (Dryden)
  • (historical, legal, UK) A sum paid for the pardon of some great offence and the discharge of the offender; also, a fine paid in lieu of corporal punishment.
  • (Blackstone)

    Usage notes

    * (term) is much more common in the US, (to) in the UK.

    Derived terms

    * king's ransom

    Verb

  • To deliver, especially in context of sin or relevant penalties.
  • To pay a price to set someone free from captivity or punishment.
  • to ransom prisoners from an enemy
  • To exact a ransom for, or a payment on.
  • Such lands as he had rule of he ransomed them so grievously, and would tax the men two or three times in a year. — Berners.

    See also

    * bail

    References

    Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: Tenth Edition 1997

    Anagrams

    * * * * *

    Not English

    has no English definition. It may be misspelled.