Definition

1. Noun:

   • The act of freeing from captivity or punishment: "Ransom" can refer to the act of securing someone's release from being held captive.
   • Payment for the release of someone: "Ransom" is the sum of money or other payment demanded or paid to secure the release of a captive.
   • Money demanded for the return of a captured person: This is the specific payment demanded by kidnappers or captors.

2. Verb:

   • To exchange or buy back for money; under threat: This means to secure the release of a captive by paying the demanded sum.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The kidnappers demanded a large ransom for the safe return of the child.
  • The family paid the ransom without involving the police.
  • He was held for ransom for over a month.

• Verb:

  • The government refused to ransom the hostages, fearing it would encourage more kidnappings.
  • They managed to ransom their colleague from the captors.

Advanced Usage

• "To hold someone to ransom": To keep someone captive and demand payment for their release. This phrase is also used figuratively to describe forcing someone to comply with demands by threatening negative consequences.

  • The hackers held the company's data to ransom, demanding a cryptocurrency payment.
  • The union is effectively holding the city to ransom with its strike threats.

• "A king's ransom": An idiom meaning a very large amount of money.

  • That vintage car must be worth a king's ransom.

Variants and Related Words

• Ransomware (n): A type of malicious software that blocks access to a computer system or data until a ransom is paid.

  • The hospital's network was crippled by a ransomware attack.

• Ransomer (n): A person who pays or demands a ransom.

  • The ransomer paid the sum anonymously.

Synonyms

• Noun: Payment, payoff, redemption money.
• Verb: Redeem, buy back, secure the release of.

Related Phrasal Verbs / Constructions

(The word "ransom" itself is not commonly used in phrasal verb constructions. Its core meanings are expressed through the verb itself or in the phrase "hold to ransom.")

Related Idioms

• "A king's ransom": As mentioned above, a huge sum of money.
  • He spent a king's ransom renovating that old house.

Noun

1. the act of freeing from captivity or punishment
2. payment for the release of someone
3. money demanded for the return of a captured person

Verb

1. exchange or buy back for money; under threat