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captive company


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Also see: company

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
cap•tive /ˈkæptɪv/USA pronunciation   n. [countable]
  1. a prisoner:They freed their captives before surrendering.

adj. [before a noun]
  1. kept or held in confinement: captive animals.
  2. unable to avoid listening to something:Her dinner guests were always a captive audience for her stories.
Idioms
  1. take or hold (someone) captive, to take or keep (someone) as a prisoner, esp. in war:We took them captive.


WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
cap•tive  (kap′tiv),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. a prisoner.
  2. a person who is enslaved or dominated;
    slave:He is the captive of his own fears.

adj. 
  1. made or held prisoner, esp. in war:captive troops.
  2. kept in confinement or restraint:captive animals.
  3. enslaved by love, beauty, etc.;
    captivated:her captive beau.
  4. of or pertaining to a captive.
  5. managed as an affiliate or subsidiary of a corporation and operated almost exclusively for the use or needs of the parent corporation rather than independently for the general public:a captive shop; a captive mine.
  • Latin captīvus, equivalent. to capt(us) taken (past participle of capere to take) + -īvus -ive
  • Middle French)
  • Middle English (1300–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
captive / ˈkæptɪv/
  1. a person or animal that is confined or restrained, esp a prisoner of war
  2. a person whose behaviour is dominated by some emotion: a captive of love
  1. held as prisoner
  2. held under restriction or control; confined: captive water held behind a dam
  3. captivated; enraptured
  4. unable by circumstances to avoid speeches, advertisements, etc (esp in the phrase captive audience)
Etymology: 14th Century: from Latin captīvus, from capere to take

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