rançon

In a sentence

• Les kidnappeurs ont demandé une rançon pour libérer l'otage.

  The kidnappers demanded a ransom to release the hostage.

  Here 'rançon' refers to the monetary demand made for the freedom of someone.

• La liberté n'a pas de rançon dans ce monde.

  Freedom has no ransom in this world.

  In this sentence, 'rançon' is used metaphorically to signify a price or cost for a concept.

• Payant la rançon de ses erreurs, il a dû travailler dur pour se relever.

  Paying the ransom of his mistakes, he had to work hard to recover.

  Here, 'rançon' is employed figuratively to denote the consequence or toll of one's actions.