PAWN Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

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pawn

[ pawn ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used with object)

to deposit as security, as for money borrowed, especially with a pawnbroker:
He raised the money by pawning his watch.
to pledge; stake; risk:
to pawn one's life.

noun

the state of being deposited or held as security, especially with or by a pawnbroker:
jewels in pawn.
something given or deposited as security, as for money borrowed.
Synonyms:
a person serving as security; hostage.
the act of pawning.

pawn

[ pawn ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Chess. one of eight men of one color and of the lowest value, usually moved one square at a time vertically and capturing diagonally.
someone who is used or manipulated to further another person's purposes.
Synonyms: , ,

pawn

/ ��ɔː�� /

verb

to deposit (an article) as security for the repayment of a loan, esp from a pawnbroker
to stake
to pawn one's honour

noun

an article deposited as security
the condition of being so deposited (esp in the phrase in pawn )
a person or thing that is held as a security, esp a hostage
the act of pawning

pawn

/ ��ɔː�� /

noun

a chessman of the lowest theoretical value, limited to forward moves of one square at a time with the option of two squares on its initial move: it captures with a diagonal move only P Compare piece
a person, group, etc, manipulated by another

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Derived Forms

ˈ�貹�ɲԲ��, noun

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Other �y��vlog Forms

�貹�ɲ�a·�� adjective
�貹�ɲ�·�� [paw, -ner], �貹��·�Դǰ� [paw, -ner, -nawr], noun
�ܲ�·�貹�ɲԱ�� adjective

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of pawn¹

First recorded in 1490–1500; noun from Middle French pan; Old French pan(d), pant, apparently from West Germanic; compare Old Frisian pand, Old Saxon, Middle Dutch pant, German Pfand; verb derivative of the noun

Origin of pawn²

First recorded in 1375–1425; Middle English poun(e), paun, from Anglo-French, equivalent to Middle French poon, variant of paon, earlier pe(h)on “foot soldier,” literally, “walker”; peon ¹

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of pawn¹

C15: from Old French pan security, from Latin pannus cloth, apparently because clothing was often left as a surety; compare Middle Flemish paen pawn, German Pfand pledge

Origin of pawn²

C14: from Anglo-Norman poun, from Old French pehon, from Medieval Latin ��ō infantryman, from Latin ��ŧ�� foot

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“The rent got too high,” he said, “and there’s nothing we can do about it. ... Tenants are pawns to the landlords.”

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They also accuse Trump of using children — or food for poor children in this case — as pawns for political leverage.

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I’ve been used as a pawn, a buffer, and been treated like I’m downright stupid too.

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"He has unwillingly become a pawn in the troubled relationship between Paris and Algiers," a committee of his supporters in France said recently.

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Ukraine isn’t just some disposable pawn, in a game where you ditch one piece to grab a shinier one.

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