Crossword Genius

Pawn ring put on by husband (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hostage

'pawn' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'ring put on by husband' is the wordplay.
'ring' becomes 'o' (letter resembling a ring).
'put on' becomes 'stage' (to put on a show is to present or stage it).
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'husband' becomes 'h'.
'o'+'stage'='ostage'
'ostage' put after 'h' is 'HOSTAGE'.

(Other definitions for hostage that I've seen before include "Prisoner held as security" , "One held for ransom" , "Person held by kidnapper for ransom" , "One seized as security" , "Prisoner held as surety" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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