prisoner of war

Definition

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

Etymology

Calque of French prisonnier de guerre, prisonier de guerre (obsolete).

Example Sentences

• "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."