(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ is a person who is kept in a prison as a punishment for a crime that they have committed.
The committee is concerned about the large number of ~s sharing cells.
= inmate
N-COUNT
2.
A ~ is a person who has been captured by an enemy, for example in war.
...wartime hostages and concentration-camp ~s...
He was taken ~ in North Africa in 1942.
N-COUNT: also hold/take n N
3.
If you say that you are a ~ of a situation, you mean that your are trapped by it.
We are all ~s of our childhood and feel an obligation to it...
N-COUNT: N of n