The kidnappers held the little girl to ransom for more than eight hours. 绑匪绑架了那个小女孩8个多小时，以索要赎金。
The rich man was asked to pay a high ransom for his daughter who was taken away by criminals. 要求这位富人为被罪犯绑架走的女儿付一大笔赎金。
The government said that the workers were holding the country to ransom by demanding a ten per cent pay rise. 政府声称，工人要求10%的加薪是对国家的要挟。
We don’t exactly get paid a king’s ransom in this job. 我们干这个活并没有拿到一笔巨款。
A rescue mission was launched amid lurid stories of armed hijackers, alleged boardings, ransom notes and claims that the Russian mafia were forcing the crew to smuggle drugs or guns. 救援计划随即启动，同时关于武装劫持者、可疑的登船者、勒索赎金的通知以及声称俄罗斯黑手党强迫船员偷运毒品或是枪支的恐怖传言四起。
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it may refer to the sum of money involved.
In an early German law, a similar concept was called weregild.
When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French rançon from Latin redemptio = "buying back": compare "redemption".