hostage vs lag

hostage

noun
  • A person seized in order to compel another party to act (or refrain from acting) in a certain way, because of the threat of harm to the hostage. 

  • The condition of being held as security or to compel someone else to act or not act in a particular way. 

  • Something that constrains one's actions because it is at risk. 

  • A person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or similar agreement, such as to ensure the status of a vassal. 

  • One who is compelled by something, especially something that poses a threat; one who is not free to choose their own course of action. 

verb
  • To hold (someone or something) hostage, especially in a way that constrains or controls the person or thing held, or in order to exchange for something else. 

  • To give (someone or something) as a hostage to (someone or something else). 

lag

noun
  • A prisoner, a criminal. 

  • A method of deciding which player shall start. Both players simultaneously strike a cue ball from the baulk line to hit the top cushion and rebound down the table; the player whose ball finishes closest to the baulk cushion wins. 

  • A stave of a cask, drum, etc.; especially (engineering) one of the narrow boards or staves forming the covering of a cylindrical object, such as a boiler, or the cylinder of a carding machine or steam engine. 

  • A gap, a delay; an interval created by something not keeping up; a latency. 

  • Delay; latency. 

  • One who lags; that which comes in last. 

  • A bird, the greylag. 

  • The fag-end; the rump; hence, the lowest class. 

adj
  • Late. 

  • Last made; hence, made of refuse; inferior. 

verb
  • To respond slowly. 

  • To fail to keep up (the pace), to fall behind. 

  • To cause to lag; to slacken. 

  • To cover (for example, pipes) with felt strips or similar material (referring to a time lag effect in thermal transfer). 

How often have the words hostage and lag occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )