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Pledging

 - 4 dictionary results

pledge

  [plej] noun, verb, pledged, pledg⋅ing.
Use Pledging in a Sentence
–noun
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.
3. the state of being given or held as security: to put a thing in pledge.
4. Law.
a. the act of delivering goods, property, etc., to another for security.
b. 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.
a. a hostage.
b. a person who becomes bail or surety for another.
–verb (used with object)
9. to bind by or as if by a pledge: to pledge hearers to secrecy.
10. to promise solemnly: to pledge one's support.
11. to give or deposit as a pledge; pawn.
12. to stake, as one's honor.
13. to secure by a pledge; give a pledge for.
14. to accept as a pledge for club, fraternity, or sorority membership.
15. to drink a health or toast to.
–verb (used without object)
16. to make or give a pledge: to pledge for someone.
17. to drink a pledge; toast someone's health, success, etc.
—Idiom
18. take the pledge, to make a solemn, formal vow to abstain from intoxicating drink.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME plege < AF < early ML plevium, plebium, deriv. of plebīre to pledge < Gmc; cf. OE plēon to risk, G pflegen to look after. See plight 2

Related forms:
pledge⋅a⋅ble, adjective
pledger, noun
pledgeless, adjective

Synonyms:
2. warranty, surety, guaranty.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Pledging
pledge   (plěj)   
n.  

  1. A solemn binding promise to do, give, or refrain from doing something: signed a pledge never to reveal the secret; a pledge of money to a charity.

    1. Something given or held as security to guarantee payment of a debt or fulfillment of an obligation.

    2. The condition of something thus given or held: put an article in pledge.

    3. Delivery of goods or personal property as security for a debt or obligation: a loan requiring a pledge of property.

    4. The contract by which such delivery is made.

  3. Law

    1. Delivery of goods or personal property as security for a debt or obligation: a loan requiring a pledge of property.

    2. The contract by which such delivery is made.

  4. A token or sign: "fair pledges of a fruitful tree" (Robert Herrick).

  5. A person who has been accepted for membership in a fraternity or similar organization and has promised to join but has not yet been initiated.

  6. The act of drinking in honor of someone; a toast.

  7. A vow to abstain from alcoholic liquor: ex-drinkers who have taken the pledge.

v.   pledged, pledg·ing, pledg·es

v.   tr.

  1. To offer or guarantee by a solemn binding promise: pledge loyalty to a nation. See Synonyms at devote, promise.

  2. To bind or secure by or as if by a pledge: pledged themselves to the cause.

  3. To deposit as security; pawn.

    1. To promise to join (a fraternity or similar organization).

    2. To accept as a prospective member of such an organization.

  5. To drink a toast to.

v.   intr.

  1. To make a solemn binding promise; swear.

  2. To drink a toast.


[Middle English, from Old French plege, probably from Late Latin plevium, a security, of Germanic origin; see dlegh- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

pledge 
1348, "surety, bail," from O.Fr. plege (Fr. pleige) "hostage, security, bail," probably from Frank. *plegan "to guarantee," from a W.Gmc. root meaning "have responsibility for" (cf. O.Saxon plegan "vouch for," O.H.G. pflegan "to care for, be accustomed to," O.E. pleon "to risk, expose to danger"). Meaning "allegiance vow attested by drinking with another" is from 1635. Sense of "solemn promise" first recorded 1814, though this meaning is from c.1400 in the verb. Weekley notes the "curious contradiction" in pledge "to toast with a drink" (1546) and pledge "the vow to abstain from drinking" (1833). Noun meaning "student who has agreed to join a fraternity or sorority" dates from 1901.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: pledge
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: pledged; pledg·ing
1 : to deliver or otherwise put forward as security for a debt or other obligation <pledged his car as collateral for the loan>
2 : to bind by a pledge pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor —Declaration of Independence>
3 : to assure or promise the performance or payment of —pled·gor /'ple-j&r, ple-'jor/ or pledg·er /'ple-j&r/ noun
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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