hostage

A person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or similar agreement, such as to ensure the status of a vassal.

• The putative force of hostageship as a form of surety lay in the threat to the life of the hostage in case of default; ties of blood magnified the threat, hence the prevalence of sons as hostages.

A person seized in order to compel another party to act (or refrain from acting) in a certain way, because of the threat of harm to the hostage.

• For example, a subject surprised in the act of robbery may take a hostage to use as a shield.
• One of the hostages pretends to be pregnant and is released at Benghazi Airport, where the aircraft refuels.

Something that constrains one's actions because it is at risk.

• “Oh, well,” I consented sadly, “the garden will lose half of its charm, but such, I suppose, is my hostage to prosperity.”
• I, too, have a hostage to the future in my large family, as you have, and my only personal satisfaction is that I will leave the heritage to them that I did the best I could for a great nation.

One who is compelled by something, especially something that poses a threat; one who is not free to choose their own course of action.

• Can he change the situation significantly or is he a hostage to a system that is resistant to dismantling?
• As a result, the country became a hostage to the International Monetary Fund, which dictated that its government cut back on public spending, reduce subsidies on basic foodstuffs and orient the economy towards producing export goods.

The condition of being held as security or to compel someone else to act or not act in a particular way.

• The concept of “lordship” was deeper and survived longer on the Continent. On every dimension, one could argue, they engaged in less hostage capital. It is not surprising then that their wealth levels did not match those in Britain.

To give (someone or something) as a hostage to (someone or something else).nonstandardpossibly

• […] in voting the prolongation of the military budget on a war estimate for a span of three years, contemplates, it is said, a speedy reoccupation of the six departments of France which were hostaged to the Germans at the termination of the

To hold (someone or something) hostage, especially in a way that constrains or controls the person or thing held, or in order to exchange for something else.nonstandardpossibly

• Thus, via the Arusha Declaration the Tanzania Government were demonstrating that its country's development would not be hostaged to the capriciousness of the West.
• Warning the United States against further intervention, the Reformist Forces said: “Never again shall the Filipino be hostaged to foreign might. The Filipino has (his) own mind with the Philippine interest in the highest priority."