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:
That has pushed bond prices down even further, leading to an increase in their yields, which play a major role in determining borrowing costs such as mortgage rates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
The US has longer-term fixed mortgage deals than other countries such as the UK.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Of course, many residents rent because they can’t get a mortgage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Would-be home buyers are deterred by higher mortgage rates, and higher savings mean less spending.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Eisman no longer needed to guess exactly when the subprime mortgage market would crash.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Talking of bills, what of mortgages and where does this leave the Bank of England?
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
A sample of FHA mortgages recently reviewed by the Housing and Urban Development Department found 76% contained a defect, up from 67% in late 2024.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.69% last week, the fifth consecutive week of increases, after averaging 6.43% at the start of July, according to Freddie Mac.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
By pushing up the cost of borrowing for things such as mortgages, loans and credit cards, central bankers hope consumers will spend less and the rate of price increases will slow.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
By the end of 2007 FrontPoint’s bets against subprime mortgages had paid off so spectacularly that they had doubled the size of their fund, from a bit over $700 million to $1.5 billion.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Not terribly long ago, Cleveland mortgaged its future believing that Watson was its savior.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
To finance “I Am Frankelda,” Roy and Arturo mortgaged two homes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
After poor ticket sales, producers were reported to have mortgaged property to cover debts.
From Barron's ● Dec. 22, 2025
Peter White, defending, said Callaghan had put his gas engineering business, which employs three people, and the mortgaged home he shares with his partner and nine-month-old daughter at risk.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2024
He saw himself as a muckraking gadfly and had mortgaged his brownstone five times to keep The Phoenix going.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
He’s a strong candidate for a team that wants a front-end starter without mortgaging the future.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2025
Mid-cap players are mortgaging chunks of their businesses to get in on the action, too.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2025
Baker noted that Spirit recently raised $419 million by mortgaging many of its planes.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2024
The agreement reverses concessions the union agreed to in a series of contracts since 2007, when GM and the former Chrysler were skidding toward bankruptcy, and Ford was mortgaging assets to stay afloat.
From Reuters ● Oct. 26, 2023
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.
