mortgage
Americannoun
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mortgages
plural
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a conveyance of an interest in real property as security for the repayment of money borrowed to buy the property; a lien or claim on property such that the lender can take possession if the loan is not repaid.
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the deed by which such a transaction is effected.
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the rights conferred by such a transaction, or the state of the property conveyed: I own a house under mortgage.
The bank holds a mortgage on his farm.
I own a house under mortgage.
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the total loan obtained or the periodic installment to be paid under such a transaction.
They took out a $500,000 mortgage.
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the obligation to repay such a loan; the debt incurred.
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an advance obligation or pledge, usually involving some risk.
Without good maternity care, some babies will be born with a long-term mortgage on their future health.
verb (used with object)
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mortgages,
present (3rd person singular)
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mortgaged,
past participle, past
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mortgaging
present participle
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to convey or place (real property) under a mortgage.
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to place under advance obligation; to pledge, usually taking on some risk.
to mortgage one's life to the defense of democracy.
noun
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an agreement under which a person borrows money to buy property, esp a house, and the lender may take possession of the property if the borrower fails to repay the money
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the deed effecting such an agreement
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the loan obtained under such an agreement
a mortgage of £48 000
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a regular payment of money borrowed under such an agreement
a mortgage of £247 per month
verb
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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submortgagenoun
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overmortgageverb
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remortgageverb (used with object)
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unmortgageverb (used with object)
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mortgageableadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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mortgagesimple
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mortgagessimple
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have mortgagedperfect
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has mortgagedperfect
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am mortgagingprogressive
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are mortgagingprogressive
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is mortgagingprogressive
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have been mortgagingperfect progressive
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has been mortgagingperfect progressive
Past
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mortgagedsimple
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had mortgagedperfect
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was mortgagingprogressive
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were mortgagingprogressive
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had been mortgagingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mortgage
First recorded in 1350–1400; earlier morgage, Middle English, from Old French mortgage, equivalent to mort “dead” (from Latin mortuus ) + gage “pledge”; see gage 1
Explanation
A mortgage is a loan in which the lender may use your property as payment if you don't pay back the loan. Offer your friend a mortgage for the $20 he wants...with his bike as security. Most people obtain a mortgage when they buy a house. The bank extends the loan because of the guarantee that the house will be the bank’s to sell if the debt isn’t repaid. When you make this deal, you have mortgaged your house — the word mortgage can be used as a noun or a verb.
Vocabulary lists containing mortgage
Richard Nixon's "Checkers" Speech (1952)
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - Introductory
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Dwight D. Eisenhower, "The Military-Industrial Complex" (1961)
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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.
See Examples For:
A young franchise quarterback offers the comfort of a sub-3 mortgage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
But his supporters also wanted to talk about the high cost of housing - insurance, taxes, mortgage rates and home-owner fees - and healthcare worker shortages.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
In early 2023, Wells Fargo scaled down its mortgage business broadly, focusing on lending to existing customers, but again reiterated a pledge to advance racial equity in housing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
We have retirement accounts, 529 plans and savings, although we also have a mortgage and two children who will start college in two years.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
Subprime mortgage lending was still a trivial fraction of the U.S. credit markets—a few tens of billions in loans each year—but its existence made sense, even to Steve Eisman.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Easing requirements further would only goose demand and drive up prices, while increasing the risk of future defaults and losses for taxpayers who stand behind most mortgages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
As mortgage rates rise, the math break down for homeowners with lower-rate mortgages looking to move.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
They predict a short-term hit to the housing market as many mortgages rely on two incomes and housing has gotten more expensive relative to salaries, especially for buyers already stretched financially thin.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
Of the 186,000 ARMs expected to reset in 2027, 1 in 5 are jumbo loans, which are bigger mortgages that exceed the conforming-loan limits set by federal regulators.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
It would be a whole lot harder for an investment banker to rip off people with subprime mortgages if he actually had to live with the people he was ripping off.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
To finance “I Am Frankelda,” Roy and Arturo mortgaged two homes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
Overindebted railroad builders and heavily mortgaged farmers demanded a less rigorous, more forgiving silver unit, and debate raged between the adherents of “soft” and “hard” money—between silver and gold, inflation and solidity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
In 1992 he mortgaged his house in order to part-fund a deal to buy a chemicals company that BP was selling.
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2026
After poor ticket sales, producers were reported to have mortgaged property to cover debts.
From Barron's ● Dec. 22, 2025
One afternoon, Elizabeth listened to a widow named Flora Campbell tearfully explain that, without her consent, her husband had mortgaged the farm that had been in her family for years.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
Currently, the charter prohibits the city from mortgaging city-owned property and prevents it from operating purely commercial or industrial businesses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
“Russia would be further mortgaging its future for the sake of military gains,” said Alexander Kolyandr, a director at the consulting firm Eurasia Group.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Mid-cap players are mortgaging chunks of their businesses to get in on the action, too.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2025
Many private equity firms have quietly begun mortgaging their investment funds, piling leverage upon leverage.
From New York Times ● May 11, 2024
Almost immediately, the financial slide began, but was artificially buoyed by extravagant bank loans that Chacko raised by mortgaging the family’s rice fields around the Ayemenem House.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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.
