prisoner of war

a person who is captured and held by an enemy during war, especially a member of the armed forces. Abbreviation: POW

Origin of prisoner of war

First recorded in 1670–80

Imagine his astonishment on learning that he was then addressing the very man whom he had hoped to meet as a prisoner-of-war.

In the Shadow of Death |P. H. Kritzinger and R. D. McDonald
He treated the wounded soldier and the prisoner-of-war with kindness.

In the Shadow of Death |P. H. Kritzinger and R. D. McDonald
In my opinion no prisoner-of-war has ever escaped without more than a fair share of luck, and no one ever will.

The Escaping Club |A. J. Evans
The crews were not only trained in prisoner-of-war tactics, but also well supplied with small luxuries.

The Outbreak of Peace |Horace Brown Fyfe

I was at last acquitted, and could return to my lonely chamber not as a criminal, but as a prisoner-of-war!

In the Shadow of Death |P. H. Kritzinger and R. D. McDonald

prisoner of war

a person, esp a serviceman, captured by an enemy in time of war Abbreviation: POW