as in serfdom
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of peonage
Its darkest depths -- the rise of racial terrorism, convict leasing, debt peonage and more -- are only now being reassessed by millions of Americans whose racial awakening came through the crucible of Floyd's murder and the demonstrations that followed.
—
Peniel E. Joseph, CNN, 6 Oct. 2021
Many drivers stick around for the full year to avoid those fees, enduring what amounts to debt peonage.
—Andrew Kay, WIRED, 17 Jan. 2023
Redemptionists stymied Black progress toward economic independence through sharecropping and a debt peonage system that encumbered Black farmers with overwhelming financial burdens.
—Time, 15 Sep. 2022
For many years, prosecutions based on alleged violations of the 13th Amendment — passed in 1865 to outlaw slavery and involuntary servitude — focused on peonage cases, the use of financial debt as a loophole to enslave workers.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 July 2022
See all Example Sentences for peonage 
Peniel E. Joseph, CNN, 6 Oct. 2021
Many drivers stick around for the full year to avoid those fees, enduring what amounts to debt peonage.
—Andrew Kay, WIRED, 17 Jan. 2023
Redemptionists stymied Black progress toward economic independence through sharecropping and a debt peonage system that encumbered Black farmers with overwhelming financial burdens.
—Time, 15 Sep. 2022
For many years, prosecutions based on alleged violations of the 13th Amendment — passed in 1865 to outlaw slavery and involuntary servitude — focused on peonage cases, the use of financial debt as a loophole to enslave workers.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 July 2022
See all Example Sentences for peonage
Recent Examples of Synonyms for peonage
Noun
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Russian officers still treated their peasant soldiers as little better than serfs (and serfdom would not be abolished in Russia for another 50 years).—
Antony Beevor,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Dec. 2022
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That book, Caliban and the Witch, traces the emergence of witch hunts throughout medieval Western Europe amid the transition from serfdom to proto-capitalism.—
Hazlitt,
Hazlitt,
4 Sep. 2024
Noun
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The legislation also removes language authorizing slavery and involuntary servitude as possible criminal punishments.—
Kinsey Crowley,
USA TODAY,
1 Jan. 2025
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And taken alongside the failure of Prop. 6, which would have ended involuntary servitude in prisons, Prop. 36 was taken as a signal that Californians attitudes toward crime are changing.—
Annika Merrilees,
Sacramento Bee,
16 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The former seeks to give admissions preferences to descendants of slavery in all private and public institutions of higher education.—
Wenyuan Wu,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Jan. 2025
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Marcus Garvey was born in Jamaica in 1887, 53 years after the abolishment of slavery in the country.—
Meagan Jordan,
Rolling Stone,
23 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Pavlovich’s allegations, like others against Gaiman, often involve acts associated with BDSM (bondage, domination, sadism, and masochism).—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
13 Jan. 2025
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Gaiman's representatives have responded to some outlets, claiming the incidents were consensual and instances of practicing BDSM (bondage, discipline/dominance, submission/sadism and masochism).—
Taijuan Moorman,
USA TODAY,
13 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The collection also includes minimalist women’s shirts, like the Club Shirt with subtle western yoke details, and a denim work shirt.—
Angela Velasquez,
Sourcing Journal,
31 Jan. 2025
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What if language is less like a yoke than like a wind, nudging us in various directions?—
Manvir Singh,
The New Yorker,
23 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near peonage
Cite this Entry
“Peonage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peonage. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.
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