pledge

American  

[plej] / plɛdʒ /

noun

pledges plural

1. a solemn promise or agreement to do or refrain from doing something.

   a pledge of aid;

   a pledge not to wage war.

2. something delivered as security for the payment of a debt or fulfillment of a promise, and subject to forfeiture on failure to pay or fulfill the promise.

   Synonyms:

   guaranty, surety, warranty

3. the state of being given or held as security.

   to put a thing in pledge.

4. Law.

   1. the act of delivering goods, property, etc., to another for security.

   2. the resulting legal relationship.

5. something given or regarded as a security.

6. a person accepted for membership in a club, fraternity, or sorority, but not yet formally approved.

7. an assurance of support or goodwill conveyed by drinking a person's health; a toast.

8. Obsolete.

   1. a hostage.

   2. a person who becomes bail or surety for another.

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verb (used with object)

pledges, present (3rd person singular) pledged, past participle, past pledging present participle

1. to bind by or as if by a pledge.

   to pledge hearers to secrecy.

2. to promise solemnly.

   to pledge one's support.

3. to give or deposit as a pledge; pawn.

4. to stake, as one's honor.

5. to secure by a pledge; give a pledge for.

6. to accept as a pledge for club, fraternity, or sorority membership.

7. to drink a health or toast to.

verb (used without object)

pledges, present (3rd person singular) pledged, past participle, past pledging present participle

1. to make or give a pledge.

   to pledge for someone.

2. to drink a pledge; toast someone's health, success, etc.

idioms

1. take the pledge, to make a solemn, formal vow to abstain from intoxicating drink.

pledge British  

/ plɛdʒ /

noun

1. a formal or solemn promise or agreement, esp to do or refrain from doing something

2. 1. collateral for the payment of a debt or the performance of an obligation

   2. the condition of being collateral (esp in the phrase in pledge )

3. a sign, token, or indication

   the gift is a pledge of their sincerity

4. an assurance of support or goodwill, conveyed by drinking to a person, cause, etc; toast

   we drank a pledge to their success

5. a person who binds himself, as by becoming bail or surety for another

6. to make a vow to abstain from alcoholic drink

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verb

1. to promise formally or solemnly

   he pledged allegiance

2. (tr) to bind or secure by or as if by a pledge

   they were pledged to secrecy

3. to give, deposit, or offer (one's word, freedom, property, etc) as a guarantee, as for the repayment of a loan

4. to drink a toast to (a person, cause, etc)

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pledger
  noun
• quasi-pledge
  verb
• interpledge
  verb (used with object)
• prepledge
  verb (used with object)
• repledge
  verb (used with object)
• pledgable
  adjective
• pledgeable
  adjective
• pledgeless
  adjective
• unpledged
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pledges
  plural

Participles

• pledging
  present
• pledged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• pledge
  simple
• pledges
  simple
• have pledged
  perfect
• has pledged
  perfect
• am pledging
  progressive
• are pledging
  progressive
• is pledging
  progressive
• have been pledging
  perfect progressive
• has been pledging
  perfect progressive

Past

• pledged
  simple
• had pledged
  perfect
• was pledging
  progressive
• were pledging
  progressive
• had been pledging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will pledge
  simple
• will have pledged
  perfect
• will be pledging
  progressive
• will have been pledging
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of pledge

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English plege, from Anglo-French, from early Medieval Latin plebium, plevium, noun derivative of plebīre “to pledge,” from Germanic; compare Old English plēon “to risk,” German pflegen “to look after”; cf. plight ²

Explanation

A pledge is basically very serious formal promise. You can pledge allegiance to your country, you can pledge to keep a secret, and you can pledge a sum of money to a cause. Pledge can be used as both a noun and a verb. As a noun, it can be a solemn promise you've made. Or even the person who makes that promise, like the freshman pledges who take an oath to join a fraternity in college. As a verb, it describes the act of promising. “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people,” vowed Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pledge pledges pledged pledging

Killer has started a crowd fundraiser, which has so far seen more than 450 supporters pledge over £7,500 to save the shop.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Phayom Raksa solemnly recited a pledge that touched on the teachings of the Buddha, and mentioned Thailand's king and the well-being of the nation.

From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026

Fed Chairman Warsh stuck to his pledge not to provide forward guidance while suggesting that financial markets were already tightening financial conditions via higher bond yields.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Smith's motion asked the council to "rescind" the pledge and request council officers to "review any policies, targets and spending commitments" introduced as a result of the declaration.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

Mrs. Olinski confessed that it was her favorite season and told Nadia that she sometimes felt guilty because she thought she ought to prefer spring, with its pledge to make the lilies bloom again.

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg

Her headline campaign pledges have been to freeze Metrolink and bus fares on the Bee Network and extend free bus travel to 11 to 18-year-olds.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

Rather, it pledges a two-year study into the concept.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

The paper says senior economists are warning that the new prime minister will need to raise taxes, or else risk failing to deliver on his raft of "bolder policy pledges".

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

The pledges could prove difficult to enforce because power prices are often decided by state regulators and electricity buyers and sellers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

The rest of the pledges and myself thought the worst was over.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers

On currency markets the yen weakened against the dollar after Friday's rally sparked by a historic joint intervention by Japanese and US authorities, and their finance ministers pledged to support the unit again.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

Andy Burnham has pledged his government will be "relentless" in curbing the number of people arriving in the UK on small boats.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

They also pledged continued support for employment, efforts to resolve debt issues, reform and risk mitigation at smaller financial institutions, and deeper capital-market reforms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Andy Burnham has pledged to reform the adult social care system in England, meeting the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to try to find "common ground" on the issue.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

Colonel Cathcart pledged eternal gratitude to Colonel Korn for the ingenious moves he devised and was furious with him afterward when he realized they might not work.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

Erlinger was a central figure in McDonald’s efforts to rein in price increases, pledging to do more to provide value to customers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

But Magyar faced criticism for pushing ahead with her nomination on Sunday, a day after pledging a public consultation on the matter.

From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026

Unfazed by past failures, Zhu stepped down from his CEO role at GigaDevice in 2018 to become the CEO of CXMT, reportedly pledging to take no salary until the company was profitable.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026

It is, for example, contributing $1.6bn to the overall deal with Kenya, external - with the East African nation pledging $850m over five years.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

Were they pledging their undying loyalty to me?

From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth

Related Words

• agreement
• assurance
• guarantee
• oath
• promise
• vow
• word