What does prisoner of war mean?
Definitions for prisoner of war
pris·on·er of war
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word prisoner of war.
Princeton's WordNet
prisoner of war, POWnoun
a person who surrenders to (or is taken by) the enemy in time of war
Wiktionary
prisoner of warnoun
A soldier or combatant who is captured by the enemy. Abbreviations POW, PW.
Wikipedia
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.Belligerents hold prisoners of war in custody for a range of legitimate and illegitimate reasons, such as isolating them from the enemy combatants still in the field (releasing and repatriating them in an orderly manner after hostilities), demonstrating military victory, punishing them, prosecuting them for war crimes, exploiting them for their labour, recruiting or even conscripting them as their own combatants, collecting military and political intelligence from them, or indoctrinating them in new political or religious beliefs.
ChatGPT
prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is an individual, whether a member of the armed forces or a civilian, who is held in custody by an enemy state during or immediately after an armed conflict. The status of POWs is outlined in various international humanitarian laws, including the Geneva Conventions, which mandate fair and humane treatment.
Wikidata
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war is a person, whether combatant or non-combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase is dated 1660. Captor states hold captured combatants and non-combatants in continuing custody for a range of legitimate and illegitimate reasons. They are held to isolate them from combatants still in the field, to release and repatriate them in an orderly manner after hostilities, to demonstrate military victory, to punish them, to prosecute them for war crimes, to exploit them for their labor, to recruit or even conscript them as their own combatants, to collect military and political intelligence from them, and to indoctrinate them in new political or religious beliefs.
Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms
prisoner of war
A detained person as defined in Articles 4 and 5 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949. In particular, one who, while engaged in combat under orders of his or her government, is
Matched Categories
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of prisoner of war in Chaldean Numerology is: 3
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of prisoner of war in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6
Examples of prisoner of war in a Sentence
Being here I can't help think of John McCain. And how Naval Academy meant so much to John McCain. John McCain chose these grounds for John McCain final resting place. John McCain was an American hero who withstood torture, years of being held as a prisoner of war, and when John McCain came home -- John McCain wanted to continue to serve.
[Radislav Blagojevich] spent four years in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp during the war for fighting on the side of the Allies, and then was in a refugee camp for three years, waiting for the chance to hopefully have the United States Congress-- that one day, his youngest son would become a member of-- pass a law called the Displaced Persons Act, that permitted my father and millions of others like him, with these long and hard-to-pronounce last names a chance to come to America, to pursue freedom and opportunity.
John McCain has served John McCain country in many facets and a building named after John McCain makes a lot of sense to me, i think the fact of the matter is a prisoner of war for five years who decides to stay there, someone who served in Congress, served in United States Russell Senate, someone who believed in American exceptionalism. Sounds like a good idea.
They're not a lot single issue veteran voters but I think people are offended by a comment that belittles the service of someone who not only served in the military but also was a prisoner of war, how can this man effectively serve as commander in chief when he belittles the service of a decorated veteran?
Donald Trump has to understand he's running to be the commander in chief of the United States military, when you're doing so, if an individual gets rolled up and becomes a prisoner of war, then is he going to abandon them simply because he doesn't like people who are captured? I think that's a pretty inflammatory statement for somebody who is trying to be the commander-in-chief of the United States military.
References
Translations for prisoner of war
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- أسير, أسير الحربArabic
- válečný zajatec, zajatecCzech
- Kriegsgefangener, KriegsgefangeneGerman
- αιχμάλωτος πολέμουGreek
- prisionero de guerraSpanish
- اسیر, بندیPersian
- sotavankiFinnish
- prisonnier de guerreFrench
- prìosanach-chogaidhScottish Gaelic
- prisionero de guerraInterlingua
- stríðsfangiIcelandic
- prigioniero di guerraItalian
- 捕虜Japanese
- 전쟁 포로Korean
- dediticiusLatin
- krijgsgevangene, oorlogsgevangeneDutch
- krigsfangeNorwegian
- yisnááhNavajo, Navaho
- jeniec wojennyPolish
- prisioneiro de guerraPortuguese
- военнопленный, пленныйRussian
- krigsfångeSwedish
- యుద్ధ ఖైదీTelugu
- бранецьUkrainian
- kligafanäböpäbVolapük
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"prisoner of war." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 18 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/prisoner+of+war>.
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