hostage
/ˈhɒstɪdʒ/noun
- a person seized or held as security for the fulfilment of a condition人质。
短语
hold（或take）someone hostage
- seize and keep someone as a hostage把某人劫持为人质。
a hostage to fortune
- an act, commitment, or remark which is regarded as unwise because it invites trouble or could prove difficult to live up to招惹麻烦（或不明智、很难做到）的行为（或许诺、意见）, 惹风险之事：
making objectives explicit is to give a hostage to fortune.
讲明目标就要惹起风险。
词源
Middle English: from Old French, based on late Latin obsidatus 'the state of being a hostage' (the earliest sense in English), from Latin obses, obsid- 'hostage'.