pawn
1 Americanverb (used with object)
-
pawns,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pawned,
past participle, past
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pawning
present participle
-
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
-
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
-
to stake
to pawn one's honour
noun
-
an article deposited as security
-
the condition of being so deposited (esp in the phrase in pawn )
-
a person or thing that is held as a security, esp a hostage
-
the act of pawning
noun
-
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pawnsimple
-
pawnssimple
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have pawnedperfect
-
has pawnedperfect
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am pawningprogressive
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are pawningprogressive
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is pawningprogressive
-
have been pawningperfect progressive
-
has been pawningperfect progressive
Past
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pawnedsimple
-
had pawnedperfect
-
was pawningprogressive
-
were pawningprogressive
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had been pawningperfect progressive
Future
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”; see origin at peon 1
Explanation
To pawn something is to use it as collateral when you're borrowing money. When you pawn a necklace at a pawn shop, you get cash in exchange for it with the understanding that you can buy it back later. The benefit when you pawn something is getting cash immediately. The down side is that you'll have to pay more money — the amount you borrowed, plus interest — to get your item back. If you aren't able to do this, the pawn shop will sell it to someone else. As a noun, a pawn is the smallest, least powerful piece in a game of chess, or a description of a person who's being used or manipulated.
Vocabulary lists containing pawn
Check It Out, Mate: Chess Vocabulary
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They Both Die at the End
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Mockingjay
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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:
He told AFP his mother sounded "fairly healthy" but he feared she was being used as a pawn to improve the public image of those detaining her.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
Jackson had shown his class a documentary about credit, debt and pawn shops earlier that same day.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
The problem is Harry already left it with another pawn shop owner.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
"With this research, we're basically taking a major pawn out of the Ordovician Meteor Event and dumping it into the Frasnian-Famennian event, and saying, 'This is where this impact belongs,'" she said.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2026
“I’m going to pawn my jewelry and my mom’s rugs. I think it’s time I sell my rugs,” she said.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
He’d always say I was too aggressive with my pawns and that I wasn’t afraid to lose them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
He is worried about the impact it could have on his health and said he does not "think patients should be treated as pawns, like in a game of chess".
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026
Through it all, many Greenlanders have felt like pawns in a global game that has upended their politics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
Come Nov. 1, they still will be pawns, but hungrier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2025
Although Bobby’s life now revolved around the Manhattan, there were other pawns to capture.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
She has noted that he is difficult to manage, so I figured she just pawned him off on me now that the company has scaled up.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
"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 ● Feb. 12, 2026
Kilroe, being the veteran executive he was, did the obvious: He pawned the request onto someone else.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2025
It was named for Barney Pressman, who in 1923 pawned his wife’s ring, at her encouragement, for $500 to buy the lease of a small store on Seventh Avenue and 17th Street in Manhattan.
From New York Times ● Apr. 22, 2024
The terrified mother pawned the cornet immediately and destroyed the pawn ticket.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
Some of them are dodging rodents and pawning power tools just to stay afloat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
She’s hoping to avoid pawning something or paying a bill late.
From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2026
I offended an acolyte who caught me pawning off the dessert basket she brought me to a neighbor, and insulted a coworker who’d gifted me holiday champagne by saying, “Don’t you know I don’t drink?”
From Salon ● Dec. 30, 2023
Smith was tried and found guilty the following year for knowingly selling and pawning his forgeries.
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2023
“Four hundred? I spent a year on each one. I’m selling them to you, not pawning them,” Nali said, her voice loud enough that other people in the pawnshop looked over.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
