pawn
verb (used with object)
to deposit as security, as for money borrowed, especially with a pawnbroker.
was pawning
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past progressiveof pawn.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
I felt like I was pawning a bejewelled party dress to get money to pay the gas bill, or selling a Porsche to put into a pension.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 27, 2018
He knew that guy who was pawning his watch because he’d missed the harvest, or whatever.
From The New Yorker ● May 11, 2015
Dickens at 12 was pawning beloved books and family furniture, dreaming impossibly of Cambridge while he worked in a “blacking factory,” covering and labeling containers of boot polish.
From BusinessWeek ● Nov. 23, 2011
While the late Alexandre Stavisky was pawning fake royal emeralds and cheating at baccarat in 1929, French politicians were having their nightmares about the Hanau Case.
From Time Magazine Archive
He followed her and saw that she was pawning the watch whose description had been given him.
From The Camp Fire Girls Go Motoring Or, Along the Road That Leads the Way by Frey, Hildegard G. (Hildegard Gertrude)
