pledge 1 of 2

1
as in to commit
to obligate by prior agreement I would love to go to dinner with you, but I've pledged myself to a play with my parents that night

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2
as in to pawn
to leave as a guarantee of repayment of a loan pledged their house against the loan

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3

pledge

2 of 2

noun

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pledge
Verb
Around the world, more than 8,000 families, schools, groups, dioceses and other organizations have pledged to take actions in response to Francis' climate encyclical, according to the Laudato Si' Action Platform. Jeff Brady, NPR, 21 Apr. 2025 Lai, Taiwan's president, has pledged to increase Taiwan's military spending to 3% of its gross domestic product, up from about 2.5%, bringing it up to nearly a fifth of its overall budget. Arkansas Online, 19 Apr. 2025
Noun
The negotiation with China, focusing on nuclear arms control, should start with a Chinese pledge not to build or deploy enough warheads to undermine the limits of New START. Rose Gottemoeller, Foreign Affairs, 15 Apr. 2025 President Trump returned to the White House with pledges to address the housing shortage and affordability crisis. Julia Mueller, The Hill, 14 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for pledge
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pledge
Verb
  • The Affordable Care Act commits the feds to paying for 90% of the cost of covering this expansion population.
    Sally Pipes, Forbes.com, 14 Apr. 2025
  • The two are committed as of this writing to participate again, and there’s some amount of pressure placed on the most recent champion to return to the event.
    Hugh Kellenberger, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Investigators also learned that a friend of Johnson's had pawned a handgun for him.
    William Morris, USA Today, 19 Apr. 2025
  • One accused him of illegally pawning luxury watches given to him by Middle Eastern governments.
    Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 7 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • The Hill’s housing series: Trump vowed to bring down housing costs.
    Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 14 Apr. 2025
  • President Donald Trump and the White House vowed to continue fighting for religious liberty and protecting Christianity within the United States in recognizing the start of Holy Week on Palm Sunday.
    Asher Notheis, The Washington Examiner, 13 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • There is no magic formula for how to get this right, and there is no guarantee that Trump’s approach will succeed.
    A. Wess Mitchell, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
  • As for who might succeed Francis, experts say that since the late pope appointed many cardinals, his successor could be someone who shares his ideas and vision for the church, but there's no guarantee.
    David Chiu, People.com, 21 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • For Yi Ming, an inheritor of artistic traditions from different continents, that connection is the promise of contemporary art.
    Connie Etemadi, USA Today, 24 Apr. 2025
  • Pennsylvanian David Gillis, for one, began his journey to the promise of gold in early February 1852.
    Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 23 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • The female moths deposit their almost invisible eggs in places where spider webs are likely to form, especially rotten logs, tree hollows and rock cavities.
    Elizabeth Weise, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2025
  • The next step is depositing cash using online banking, PayPal, credit card, debit card or any other accepted payment method.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Plus, flight attendants swear by the clever organizers, too.
    Alesandra Dubin, Travel + Leisure, 19 Apr. 2025
  • Oz was joined by Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who swore him into office.
    Ted Johnson, Deadline, 18 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • In January, organizers at a major San Francisco healthcare meeting increased security for attendees inside and outside the venue.
    Sriparna Roy, USA Today, 23 Apr. 2025
  • Yet just as important as these security considerations is the administration’s rejection of the treaties, organizations, and economic institutions that the United States has done so much to shape.
    Ngaire Woods, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Pledge.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pledge. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.

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