captive
/ˈkæptɪv/ noun B2- One who has been captured or is otherwise confined.
- One held prisoner.
- One charmed or subdued by beauty, excellence, or affection; one who is captivated.
- A captive insurance company, a subsidiary of a company used as its internal insurer.
Plural captives
From the library
Not a word would our captive say, but he glared at us from the shadow of his matted hair, and once, when my hand seemed within his reach, he snapped at it like a hungry wolf.
“It chanced that some little time later Hugo left his guests to carry food and drink—with other worse things, perchance—to his captive, and so found the cage empty and the bird escaped.
The prisoners, in their expressive language, have named it the “Lions’ Den,” probably because the captives possess teeth which frequently gnaw the bars, and sometimes the keepers also.
Through meticulously orchestrated captive breeding programs, these facilities actively safeguard vulnerable species whose natural habitats are imperiled by rampant deforestation and climate fluctuations.
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