pawns

Noun (1)

pawn (countable and uncountable, plural pawns)

1. (uncountable) The state of being held as security for a loan, or as a pledge.
   • All our jewellery was in pawn by this stage.
2. An instance of pawning something.
   • Redeem from broking pawn the blemish'd crown.1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to...
3. (archaic) An item given as security on a loan, or as a pledge.
   • My life I never held but as a pawn / To wage against thy enemies.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
4. (rare) A pawnshop; pawnbroker.

Noun (2)

pawn (plural pawns)

1. The most numerous chess piece, or a similar piece in a similar game. In chess, each side starts with eight; moves are only forward, and attacks are only diagonally or en passant.
   • The pawn may move forward to the square immediately in front of it on the same file, provided that this square is unoccupied […] Consequently, in the initial position the white pieces and pawns are placed on the first and second ranks; the black pieces and pawns on the eighth and seventh ranks.2022, “2023 Laws of Chess”, in FIDE, archived from the original on 16 Mar 2025, pages 5, 21
2. (idiomatic) A person being manipulated by another, being used to some end.
   • Near-synonym: chess piece

   Synonyms:

   chess piece

See all 9 meanings of pawn