money that is paid to somebody so that they will set free a person who is being kept as a prisoner by them 赎金 The kidnappers demanded a ransom of £50 000 from his family. 绑架者向他的家人索要赎金 5 万英镑。 a ransom demand/note 索要赎金的要求／通知 ransom money 赎金 They are refusing to pay ransom for her release. 他们拒绝支付赎金来解救她。 They stole cattle for ransom. 他们偷牛以勒索赎金。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + ransom- hold somebody for
- hold somebody to
- kidnap somebody for
- …
- demand
- note
- money
- …
- for ransom
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French ransoun (noun), ransouner (verb), from Latin redemptio(n-) ‘ransoming, releasing’, from redimere ‘buy back’, from re- ‘back’ + emere ‘buy’. Early use also occurred in theological contexts expressing ‘deliverance’ and ‘atonement’.
Idioms
hold somebody to ransom
to keep somebody as a prisoner and demand that other people pay you an amount of money before you set them free 将…绑票 - (disapproving)
to take action that puts somebody in a very difficult situation in order to force them to do what you want 胁迫；要挟 The company refused to be held to ransom by the union. 这家公司拒绝了工会的要挟。
a king’s ransom
- (literary)
a very large amount of money 一笔巨款