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

---

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

His administration persuaded Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI and Amazon to sign a voluntary pledge not to leave consumers paying for new power infrastructure.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

The five-year pledge comes alongside research from TD Economics estimating that overall Canadian nation-building capital investments could reach up to $1.2 trillion by 2035.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Thursday’s pledge made the president’s request more personal.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026

So does this pledge suggest an element of panic that he pulled this policy out of his back pocket before many of his closest allies had been told about it?

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

One of her first challenges involved a pledge she had made to raise money for the University of Rochester.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

Meta and other tech giants have made similar pledges.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

But whether these governments follow through on these admittedly vague pledges, and whether that results in material change in the Middle East, is at least partly beside the point.

From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026

That left even fewer Indians interested in preserving the British empire; if their soldiers were expected to fight, they wanted pledges of self-rule in return.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

She added, without giving details, that there had also been new pledges of desperately-needed air defence missiles for Ukraine.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

He translated fully to each group of creatures the Abbot’s message, in turn construing back to the Father Abbot their grateful thanks with pledges of help and loyalty to Redwall Abbey.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

In a July earnings report, it highlighted “continued momentum” for its data-center sales and it pledged to ramp up production for large-megawatt backup generators.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

With central bank interest rates on the rise -- and government bond yields reaching multi-decade highs in recent weeks -- Healey has pledged to maintain strict fiscal discipline.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

David Cassirer has argued the law clearly requires the museum to return the painting — and has pledged to support other looting victims with any proceeds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

Ministers have also pledged extra support beyond housing.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

“No! We were pledged to Scythe Faraday and no one else! He died to free us, so we should be freed!”

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau responded by pledging to increase trade with the European common market and its newest member, the U.K.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

Parton continued her support by pledging $1,000 per month for six months to about 900 families who had lost their homes.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

The mayor ran on a campaign platform of affordability, pledging to raise taxes to cover services like universal child care, and free and faster buses.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

"We are facing risks that are becoming increasingly complex and potentially large-scale," he said, pledging a national resilience plan to address climate-related threats.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

If we didn’t, it meant dismissal from pledging.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers

Related Words

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