pension
Americannoun
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a fixed amount, other than wages, paid at regular intervals to a person or to the person's surviving dependents in consideration of past services, age, merit, poverty, injury or loss sustained, etc..
a retirement pension.
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an allowance, annuity, or subsidy.
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(in France and elsewhere in continental Europe)
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a boardinghouse or small hotel.
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room and board.
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verb (used with object)
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to grant or pay a pension to.
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to cause to retire on a pension (usually followed byoff ).
noun
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a relatively cheap boarding house
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another name for full board
noun
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a regular payment made by the state to people over a certain age to enable them to subsist without having to work
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a regular payment made by an employer to former employees after they retire
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a regular payment made to a retired person as the result of his or her contributions to a personal pension scheme
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any regular payment made on charitable grounds, by way of patronage, or in recognition of merit, service, etc
a pension paid to a disabled soldier
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonpensionableadjective
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pensionableadjective
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pensionlessadjective
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unpensionableadjective
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unpensionedadjective
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unpensioningadjective
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well-pensionedadjective
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pensionablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pensionsimple
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pensionssimple
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have pensionedperfect
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has pensionedperfect
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am pensioningprogressive
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are pensioningprogressive
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is pensioningprogressive
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have been pensioningperfect progressive
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has been pensioningperfect progressive
Past
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pensionedsimple
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had pensionedperfect
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was pensioningprogressive
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were pensioningprogressive
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had been pensioningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pension
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Old French pensïon, from Latin pēnsiōn-, stem of pēnsiō “measured weight,” hence, “payment, rent,” from pēns(us) “weighed” (past participle of pendere “to hang, weigh out, pay by weight”) + -iō -ion
Explanation
A pension is a regular payment, usually from a company you worked for, that allows you to survive without working after you retire. In used to be common for someone to spend their entire career at one company, and then retire at 65 and receive a pension: regular payments of enough money to live on in old age. Nowadays, not that many jobs offer pensions, and it's hard for companies that do to pay for them, which is why you're likely to hear this word when people are arguing about budget cuts. It's also a verb: if you pension your employee, you give them a pension. How nice of you!
Vocabulary lists containing pension
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
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This Week in Words: February 16 - 22, 2019
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The Great Depression and The New Deal
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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:
Their societies are aging quickly—but without the pension systems and personal savings that sustain older people in most developed countries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
That guaranteed income might come from Social Security, a pension, an annuity or another dependable income source.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
Garcia disclosed only a pension, worth $100,001 to $250,000, while Padilla Stout only listed a bank account, a mutual fund and her spouse’s retirement plans.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
The i Paper says the new Chancellor John Healey has given a commitment that pensioners whose only earnings are the state pension will not pay income tax.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
For a horse, it was said, the pension would be five pounds of corn a day and, in winter, fifteen pounds of hay, with a carrot or possibly an apple on public holidays.
From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell
As well as mental health support, guest speakers focus on issues such as military pensions and the impact of the menopause.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Reforms to pensions and the labor market being pushed by Germany’s government are also having a positive effect on sentiment, ZEW President Achim Wambach said Tuesday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
“Many clients in their 80s already have their retirement income needs covered through Social Security, pensions, required minimum distributions, and their existing savings,” said Andrew Fincher, a certified financial planner at VLP Financial Advisors.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026
She may need to adjust withholding from retirement distributions, pensions, or even Social Security benefits to avoid an unexpected tax bill.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026
The President awarded the three detectives the People’s Medal and gave them lifelong pensions.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
The following year, four years after the explosion, he was pensioned out of the army and started a university degree in psychology.
From BBC ● Dec. 6, 2021
The airline struggled with a 51-day pilots' strike between September and November 2017, grounding half its fleet and resulting in dozens of pilots being fired, while others resigned or were pensioned off.
From Reuters ● Nov. 25, 2021
A horse is pensioned when it is no longer available for breeding.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2020
“Maybe it’s time for the whole thing to be pensioned off and rethought.”
From New York Times ● Aug. 21, 2017
“Not that it need come to that,” Mr. Owen blurted, meaning Tansy might marry and be saved before she was pensioned off.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Downpour and Inferno are states that people drive between pensioning their senators and whitegoods.
From New York Times ● Apr. 15, 2022
With this eloquent plea, Deputy Prime Minister Vallabhbhai Patel last year won over reluctant Congressmen to his plan for pensioning off India's princes.
From Time Magazine Archive
Last month she reached the Department's retiring age, 63, and found that the law made no provision for pensioning a policewoman.
From Time Magazine Archive
In general, pensioning ministers has special actuarial aspects.
From Time Magazine Archive
The pensioning of the youth is really more dangerous than to pension age.
From Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 11 Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Businessmen by Hubbard, Elbert
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.
