pledge
/plɛd͡ʒ/
pledge verb: to make a solemn promise (to do something).
Verb
pledge (third-person singular simple present pledges, present participle pledging, simple past and past participle pledged)
- To make a solemn promise (to do something).
- pledge allegiance to the flag
- Synonyms:
- undertake
- To deposit something as a security; to pawn.
- To give assurance of friendship by the act of drinking; to drink to one's health.
- HARDCASTLE [Taking the cup.] I hope you'll find it to your mind. I have prepared it with my own hands, and I believe you'll own the ingredients are tolerable. Will you be so good as to pledge me, sir? Here, Mr. Marlow, here is to our better acquaintance. [Drinks.]1773, Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer
- Reach me my golden cup that stands by thee,
And pledge me in it first for courtesy.1852, Matthew Arnold, Tristram and Iseult
Noun
pledge (plural pledges)
- A solemn promise to do something.
- Mr. Biden unveiled the pledge at a White House climate summit for world leaders, declaring that the United States is ready to reclaim a leadership role on climate change.2021 April 22, Brad Plumer, Nadja Popovich, “The U.S. Has a New Climate Goal. How Does It Stack Up Globally?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
- Synonyms:
- commitment, undertaking
- An asset or person temporarily handed over to guarantee the fulfilment of something promised, under threat of permanent loss of the thing handed over; surety, security, hostage.
- Iacke Straw. […] I haue his wife and children pledges, for his ſpeedie returne from the King, to whom he is gone with our meſſage.
Tom Miller. Let him take heede hee bring a wiſe anſwere to our worships, or els his pledges goes to the pot.1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act I
- Iacke Straw. […] I haue his wife and children pledges, for his ſpeedie returne from the King, to whom he is gone with our meſſage.
- A bailment of personal property to secure payment of a debt without transfer of title.
- The personal property so pledged, to be kept until the debt is paid.
- A person who has taken a pledge of allegiance to a college fraternity, but is not yet formally approved.
- A drinking toast.
pledge meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
pledge in Hindi
- to make a solemn promise
- वचन vacan, प्रण praṇ, प्रतिज्ञा pratijñā
pledge in Tamil
- உறுதி மொழி, உறுதிமொழி, வாக்குறுதி, பற்றுறுதி, சங்கல்பம்
pledge in Urdu
- pledge
- اقرار iqrār
pledge in Bengali
- to make a solemn promise
- ওয়াদা করা ōẇada kora
- solemn promise
- ওয়াদা ōẇada
- delivery of personal property to secure the payment of a debt
- জামানত jamanot, জমানত jomanot
More languagesFewer languages
- pledge in Telugu
- ప్రతిజ్ఞ pratijña, ప్రతిన pratina, తనఖా tanakhā
- pledge in Malayalam
- പ്രതിജ്ഞ pratijña
- pledge in Kannada
- ಅಡವು, ಈಡು, ಕುದುವು, ಒತ್ತೆ
- pledge in Punjabi
- سونہہ sauṉh, ਇਕਰਾਰ ikarār
- pledge in Odia
- ଥୋଇବା thoibā
- pledge in Sanskrit
- विनिमय vinimaya
- pledge in Arabic
- تَعَهَّدَ taʕahhada, ضَمَان ḍamān, تَعَهُّد taʕahhud
- pledge in Malay
- ikrar
- pledge in Persian
- گرو gerow
- pledge in Thai
- ปฏิญาณ bpà-dtì-yaan, จำนำ jam-nam
- pledge in Vietnamese
- cam kết, thề, cầm đồ
Examples of pledge in a sentence
- I was submitted to a binding pledge.
- Please stand in line for the pledge of allegiance.
- The government pledged to fight corruption.
Synonyms of pledge
Forms of pledge
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | pledges |
| present participle | pledging |
| past participle | pledged |
| past | pledged |
| Noun | |
| plural | pledges |
Origin of pledge
From Middle English plege, from Anglo-Norman plege, from Old French plege (Modern French pleige) from Medieval Latin plevium, plebium, from plebiō (“to pledge”), from Frankish *plehan (“to pledge; to support; to guarantee”). Akin to Old High German pflegan (“to take care of, be accustomed to”), Old Saxon plegan (“to vouch for”), Old English plēon (“to risk, endanger”). More at plight.
Words formed from pledge
- antipledging
- mispledge
- pledgable
- pledgeability
- repledge
- unpledged
- antipledge
- dead pledge
- depledge
- frankpledge
- impledge
- interpledge
- negative pledge
- pledgee
- pledgeless
- pledgeling
- pledgemaster
- pledge of allegiance
- pledger
- pledgeship
- pledgor
- propledge
- purity pledge
- put in pledge
- safe pledge
- take the pledge
- virginity pledge
Phrases with pledge
Words that rhyme with pledge
Questions about pledge
- What does pledge mean?
- Pledge means to make a solemn promise (to do something).
- What is pledge in Hindi?
- Pledge in Hindi is वचन (vacan), प्रण (praṇ), प्रतिज्ञा (pratijñā). See Pledge meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is pledge?
- Pledge can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce pledge?
- Pledge is pronounced /plɛd͡ʒ/.
- What is the past tense of pledge?
- The past tense of pledge is pledged.
Words near pledge in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: pledge (page history and authors); pledge (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); اقرار (Urdu) (page history and authors); pledge (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); سونہہ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ଥୋଇବା (Odia) (page history and authors); विनिमय (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-pledge.ogg.
Cite this entry: “pledge.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pledge. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.