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Ransom   /rˈænsəm/   Listen
noun
Ransom  n.  
1.
The release of a captive, or of captured property, by payment of a consideration; redemption; as, prisoners hopeless of ransom.
2.
The money or price paid for the redemption of a prisoner, or for goods captured by an enemy; payment for freedom from restraint, penalty, or forfeit. "Thy ransom paid, which man from death redeems." "His captivity in Austria, and the heavy ransom he paid for his liberty."
3.
(O. Eng. Law) A sum paid for the pardon of some great offense and the discharge of the offender; also, a fine paid in lieu of corporal punishment.
Ransom bill (Law), a war contract, valid by the law of nations, for the ransom of property captured at sea and its safe conduct into port.



verb
Ransom  v. t.  (past & past part. ransomed; pres. part. ransoming)  
1.
To redeem from captivity, servitude, punishment, or forfeit, by paying a price; to buy out of servitude or penalty; to rescue; to deliver; as, to ransom prisoners from an enemy.
2.
To exact a ransom for, or a payment on. (R.) "Such lands as he had rule of he ransomed them so grievously, and would tax the men two or three times in a year."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Ransom" Quotes from Famous Books



... asked her, What she thought of him? she answered, "I do not know; I did not observe him." On what, then, said one of the company did you fix your attention? "On him," replied she, (referring to the generous speech which her husband had just made,) "who said he would give a thousand lives to ransom my liberty." "Oh," cried the colonel, when reading it, "how ought we to fix our eyes and hearts on Him who, not in offer, but in reality, gave his own precious life to ransom us from the most dreadful slavery, and from eternal destruction!" But this ...
— The Life of Col. James Gardiner - Who Was Slain at the Battle of Prestonpans, September 21, 1745 • P. Doddridge

... no wise be accepted, and they are those who go astray. Verily they who believe not, and die in their unbelief, the world full of gold shall in no wise be accepted from any of them, even though he should give it for his ransom; they shall suffer a grievous punishment, and they shall have none to help them. Ye will never attain unto righteousness, until ye give in alms of that which ye love: and whatever ye give, God knoweth it. All food was permitted unto ...
— Sacred Books of the East • Various

... me go free and without a ransom," he concluded, "and that part of my obligation I should be glad to repay, though for his gentleness to Freda I must still remain his debtor. What say you, Bijorn, will you sell him to me? Name your price in horses, arms, and armour, and ...
— The Dragon and the Raven - or, The Days of King Alfred • G. A. Henty

... new one afar like a truffle; and from the Morgue of the dictionary he dragged forgotten beauties. He dowered the language of his day with every tint of dawn and every convulsion of sunset; he invented metaphors that were worth a king's ransom, and figures of speech that deserve the Prix Montyon. Then reviewing his work, he formulated an axiom which will go down with a nimbus through time: Whomsoever a thought however complex, a vision however apocalyptic, surprises without words to convey ...
— The Merry-Go-Round • Carl Van Vechten

... came to the rescue. He was eager to get home but cannily aware of his own especial risk,—two wealthy Americans having been recently taken and held for ransom. He had influence at the Capital; he wrote and telegraphed and the replies were suave and reassuring; reliable escort would be furnished as soon as possible,—within the week, it was hoped. Meanwhile, there was nothing for it but to wait. He went back to the hacienda where he had been visiting, ...
— Play the Game! • Ruth Comfort Mitchell


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