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captives

Noun
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Captives are people held as prisoners or kept under another’s control, especially during war; the word may also figuratively describe those trapped by fear, love, or circumstance.

Detailed Definition
A captive is someone taken or kept by force, especially in war. Here the word gives death a grim, military-like power over human beings.
Example
Example in poetry:
“When they, pale captives, creep to death,” portrays prisoners as physically and emotionally diminished; “Captives marched beneath the conqueror’s banners,” places the word in war and empire; Biblical and classical poems often figure captives longing for home and freedom; “We were captives of the clock, not chains,” uses the noun metaphorically for modern constraint
Additional Notes
In "pale captives" the word is used in a more formal, older sense that may feel less immediate than everyday "prisoners."; Found in the poem, Song from 'Ajax and Ulysses.' by James Shirley
Also Known As
prisoners hostages
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