pawn
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to deposit as security, as for money borrowed, especially with a pawnbroker.
He raised the money by pawning his watch.
-
to pawn one's life.
noun
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the state of being deposited or held as security, especially with or by a pawnbroker.
jewels in pawn.
-
something given or deposited as security, as for money borrowed.
- Synonyms:
- pledge
-
a person serving as security; hostage.
-
the act of pawning.
verb
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to deposit (an article) as security for the repayment of a loan, esp from a pawnbroker
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to stake
to pawn one's honour
noun
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an article deposited as security
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the condition of being so deposited (esp in the phrase in pawn )
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a person or thing that is held as a security, esp a hostage
-
the act of pawning
noun
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P. a chessman of the lowest theoretical value, limited to forward moves of one square at a time with the option of two squares on its initial move: it captures with a diagonal move only Compare piece
-
a person, group, etc, manipulated by another
Other Word Forms
- pawnable adjective
- pawnage noun
- pawner noun
- pawnor noun
- unpawned adjective
Etymology
Origin of pawn1
First recorded in 1490–1500; noun from Middle French pan; Old French pan(d), pant, apparently from West Germanic; compare Old Frisian pand, Old Saxon, Middle Dutch pant, German Pfand; verb derivative of the noun
Origin of pawn2
First recorded in 1375–1425; Middle English poun(e), paun, from Anglo-French, equivalent to Middle French poon, variant of paon, earlier pe(h)on “foot soldier,” literally, “walker”; peon 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Evgeny agrees to share, but implores Dmitri not to eat it all because he “had to pawn off a bit of mother’s good silver and then wait three hours in line.”
"I pawned my mum's rings, he just took everything I had and I was diagnosed with an aneurysm and Bell's palsy."
From BBC
“I do. I used to. But I’ve been away at boarding school, and then university, and then here…Why bishop takes knight? I can just capture back, improve my pawn structure.”
From Literature
Through it all, many Greenlanders have felt like pawns in a global game that has upended their politics.
They may turn to pawn transactions and other informal borrowing arrangements.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
