prisoner of war

Definitions

A combatant or soldier who is captured by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict.

Equivalents

Examples

“As a prisoner of war, he was interrogated by his enemy captors.”

“In November 1799 he entered on board⟳ the 38-gun frigate Hussar, under the immediate patronage of the first lieutenant, and four years later was serving as midshipman on board⟳ the same ship when she was lost on the Saintes, near Brest, on 8 Feb. 1804. Whilst prisoner of war, Mr. Ashworth made several remarkable attempts to recover⟳ his freedom; and at last⟳, having escaped from Bitche in December 1808, he succeeded in passing through Germany to Trieste, where he got on board⟳ the English frigate L'Unité.”

CEFR level