pledge--prophetes.ai

▪ I. pledge, n.
    (plɛdʒ)
    Forms: 4–6 plege, plegge, 6 pledg, 5– pledge (6 Sc. pladge, plage, plaige, pleage, 7 pleg).
    [Late ME. a. OF. plege (Roland, c 1080, and Anglo-F.), pleige, plaige, plo(i)ge, etc., mod.F. pleige hostage, security, bail, pledge:—early Frankish L. plevium, plibium, plebium, a 600 in Pact. Childeb. & Chlot. 10 (Hessels, Salic Law 417), med.L. plivium (?a 1200, Barcelona) in Du Cange; app. deriv. n. (on type of gaudium, odium, colloquium) from med.L. plevīre, plebīre (c 800 in Lex Romana Rætica Curiensis IX. i. [4], plivīre (1080 Aquitaine, Du Cange), Pr. plevir (pres. ind. pliu), OF. plevir (Roland), pleivir, early mod.F. plevir, pleuvir, F. dial. pluvir Godef.), to warrant, assure, undertake for, engage (Cotgr.): cf. plevin, replevin. See Note below.]
    1. Law and gen. a. A person who becomes surety for another; a bail; a surety; a member of a frank-pledge or frithborh (mod.L. plegius). Obs. exc. Hist.

[1224 Bracton's Note Bk. (1887) II. 176 Amerciauerunt eum..et Iordanum de Treuergan plegium suum..ad unam marcam. 1292 Britton i. ii. §10 Celui volums nous qe soit pris,..et lessez par plege jekes a nostre venue en le pays..et qe le Corouner face enbrever lour nouns et les nouns des pleges. 1314–15 Rolls of Parlt. I. 293/2 De ceo qe les chief plegges a le Letes, & al Tourn de Visconte, presentent fausement gentz estre copables.] c 1386 Chaucer Melib. ¶860 Thanne Melibee..receyued hire obligacions and hir boondes by hire othes vp-on hire plegges and borwes. 1467 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 382 Also yf eny mans wyf becom dettor or plegge. 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) i. iv. 45 And in as moche the godfader and godmoder ben pledges and maketh good for hym. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV 12 b, Thou knowest wel inough that I am thy pledge borowe and mayneperner, body for body. 1562 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 221 To entir as plege and souerte for his said fadder. 1581 Lambarde Eiren. i. iii. (1602) 14 Borowhead, Borsholder, and Tythingman..signifie, The chiefe man of the free pledges within that Borowe, or Tything. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. ii. 45 Petruchio patience, I am Grumio's pledge. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xxvi. (1739) 43 Each one being pledge for others good abearing. 1874 Stubbs Const. Hist. (1875) I. v. 87 Each association (frithborh) has a headman, a ‘capital pledge’, borhs-ealdor or frith-borge-head, to manage the business of the ten. Thus constituted, they are standing sureties for one another. 1895 Pollock & Maitland Hist. Eng. Law I. ii. iii. §4. 558 The chief pledge seems to have exercised a certain authority over his subordinate pledges.

† b. A hostage. Obs.

1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 129 Seleucus..somtyme plegge and prisoner at Rome. 1535 Coverdale 1 Macc. ix. 53 He toke also the chefest mens sonnes in the countre for pledges, and put them in the castel at Ierusalem to be kepte. 1597 James VI in 3rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. 422/2 Burdynit with the keiping of the pleges and broken men reteinit for gude ordour on the bourdouris. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. i. vii, And also take himselfe Prisoner, and the fower English Pledges.

2. a. Anything handed over to or put in the possession of another, as security for the performance of a contract or the payment of a debt, or as a guarantee of good faith, etc., and liable to forfeiture in case of failure (med.L. plegium).

[1164 Constit. Clarendon v. in Stubbs Sel. Charters (1895) 138 Excommunicati..debent dare..tantum vadium et plegium standi judicio ecclesiae, ut absolvantur.] c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxii. 471 Yf he wolde not graunte me peas wyth hym, I promyse you he sholde leve his hede for a pledge. 1513–14 Act 5 Hen. VIII, c. 1 He shall..bring in sufficient gage and plegge to the verey value of the contentes of the same writtyng obligatorie. 1535 Coverdale Job xxii. 6 Thou hast taken the pledge from thy brethren for naught, and robbed the naked of their clothinge. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. iii. 240 What Pledge haue we of thy firme Loyalty? 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 325 The Tree..which I have set The Pledge of thy Obedience and thy Faith, Amid the Garden by the Tree of Life. 1696 Phillips, Pledges, in Common Law are sureties either Real or Personal which the Plaintiff finds to prosecute his Sute. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) V. 577 The lord did not become entitled to a fine on these surrenders, because they were only intended as a pledge for securing the repayment of the money advanced. 1838 Thirlwall Greece IV. xxvii. 9 They therefore sent seven galleys..as a pledge of their loyalty.

b. spec. A thing put in pawn.

1800 Act 39 & 40 Geo. III, c. 99 §2 Any time during which the said pledge shall remain in pawn. 1859 Tennyson Geraint & Enid 220, I do not doubt To find, at some place..arms On loan, or else for pledge. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola iv, Hold the ring..as pledge for a small sum far beneath its value. 1878 Stubbs Const. Hist. III. xviii. 106 The crown, which had been kept by bishop Beaufort as a pledge, was placed in the custody of the treasurer.

c. A gage of battle; = gage n.¹ 2.

1590 Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 43 He..threw his gauntlet, as a sacred pledge, His cause in combat the next day to try. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iii. vi, The honour'd pledge you gave In every battle-field shall wave Upon my helmet-crest.

d. fig. Applied to a child, as a token or evidence of mutual love and duty between parents, or as a hostage given to fortune.

1590 Spenser F.Q. i. x. 4 But faire Charissa to a lovely fere Was lincked, and by him had many pledges dere. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 91 Yeerely sacrifice of the deerest pledges of Nature to Saturne. 1651 Davenant Gondibert i. ix, No male Pledge, to give a lasting name, Sprung from his bed. 1726 Swift Gulliver ii. viii, I could never forget those domestic pledges I had left behind me. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. vi. 71 Exulting over the first pledge of their union, a fine little girl.

3. Something given or taken as a sign or token of favour or the like, or as an earnest of something to come.

1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 13 b, Innumerable..benefytes and consolacyons he hathe gyuen vs, as very pledges and sure tokens of loue. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion, He hath lefte in those holy Misteries, as a pledge of his loue..his owne blessed body, and precious bloud. a 1653 Binning Serm. (1845) 240 Christ's rising is the pledge and pawn of the second resurrection. 1792 Burke Corr. (1844) III. 447 The exertion of one virtue is always a pledge for the exertion of another. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 438 A precious pledge that, wander where he will, One heart will think and dream about him still.

4. An assurance of allegiance or goodwill attested by drinking in response to another; the drinking of a health to a person, party, etc.; a toast.

1635 Heywood Philocothonista 12 [Alexander] dranke healths to every man round, and pledged them severally againe;.. Calistenes [when] the King offered him a deepe quaffing-bowle, which he modestly refused,..said aloud. I desire not, Oh Alexander, to receive a pledge from thee; by taking which, I shall be presently inforced to inquire for a Physition. 1715 Lady M. W. Montagu Town Ecl., St. James' Coffee-Ho., A certain duke one night my health begun; With chearful pledges round the room it run. 1816 Scott Old Mort. i, Old Mortality was..prevailed upon to join his host in a single glass of liquor,..on condition that he should be permitted to name the pledge.

5. a. A solemn engagement to do or refrain from doing something; a promise, vow.

1814 Cary Dante, Paradise v. 67 Yet not bent, as Jephthah once..to redeem his pledge By doing worse. 1828 D'Israeli Chas. I, I. vi. 170 [The] oath of allegiance..was a pledge for civil, and not for religious purposes. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India II. 376 The greater number adhered to their pledge. 1855 Brewster Newton II. xv. 82 He obtained them..under the pledge of secrecy. 1883 Manch. Exam. 30 Oct. 5/5 The measure was introduced..in defiance of the most solemn pledges of the British Government.

b. the (temperance, total abstinence) pledge: a solemn engagement to abstain from intoxicating drink. Phrases: to take, sign, keep the pledge.

1833 New Engl. Mag. (Boston) Aug. 137 The Temperance Pledge. Ibid. 141 Has he signed the pledge? 1840 Southern Lit. Messenger VI. 325/1, I have signed the pledge, and since it is done I will make a virtue of necessity. 1843 in M. Miliband Observer of 19th Cent. (1966) 161 Father Mathew..called upon those who wished to take the ‘pledge’ to kneel down... About 3,000 persons took the pledge... From the appearance of many of them, we should say the total abstinence pledge was very necessary. 1846 W. E. Forster in Reid Life (1888) I. vi. 183 As to the temperance pledge, I find many men [in Ireland] still keeping it, but..a large proportion have broke. 1860 J. W. Warter Sea-board II. 436 More than one case has come to my knowledge in which the pledge has been of service. 1864 Soc. Sci. Rev. 259 When a man is a drunkard, and can still respect and keep an oath, by all means let him take the pledge. 1914 G. B. Shaw Fanny's First Play iii. 214, I dont want any whisky and soda. I'll take the pledge if you like. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 348 Had her father only avoided the clutches of the demon drink, by taking the pledge or those powders the drink habit cured in Pearson's Weekly, she might now be rolling in her carriage, second to none. 1930 G. B. Shaw Apple Cart i. 43 Though none of us doubted that he would sign the pledge, we were not equally certain that the infirmities of his nature would allow him to keep it. 1970 J. H. Gray Boy from Winnipeg 126 It was only when bootleg beer became openly available in the downtown hotels after 1920 that he gradually slipped from the pledge.

c. U.S. college slang. A student who has promised to join a fraternity or sorority. Also transf.

1901 Univ. of Chicago Weekly 1 Aug. 1087/1 Still if the Kappas are as bad as you say—you say they lifted two pledges last year. 1930 Randolph Enterprise (Elkins, W. Virginia) 18 Dec. 1/1 [They]..have been announced as two of five pledges chosen by the University Dramatic club at Morgantown. 1945 W. Maxwell Folded Leaf 52 Shortly after seven o'clock the pledges appeared, one at a time, in the hotel lobby. 1949 Reader's Digest Aug. 71/1 The chapter might..keep Tom as a sort of permanent pledge. 1972 M. Mead Blackberry Winter viii. 98 For one thing, I had no dates; these were all arranged through commands to the freshman pledges of certain fraternities to date the freshman pledges of certain sororities.

6. The condition of being given or held as a pledge; the state of being pledged: in the phrases to be, lay, put in pledge, to give, have, lay, put to pledge, to take out of pledge, etc.

1382 Wyclif 1 Macc. i. 11 The sone of Antiochi kyng, that was at Rome in seegyng [gloss or plegge; 1388 in ostage]. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 3158 My life to plegge shal he haue. 1516 Life St. Bridget in Myrr. our Ladye p. liii, Take my two sones and lay them in plegge to your credytours. a 1529 Skelton El. Rummyng 293 Some layde to pledge Theyr hatchet and theyr wedge. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 23 And gaif thy self to plaige. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 485 He..to meet and stop out want, had put to pledge, and pawned most of his own Houshold-stuff. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 86 If he doth not pay, then the land which is put in pledge, upon condition for the payment of the money, is taken from him for ever. 1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. i. xxii, Pressed for a sum of money..he had put his Sunday coat in pledge. 1901 Daily Chron. 14 May 7/7 Mr. Cardwell's scheme..abolished purchase in the Army, took the Army out of pledge, as the reform was wittily described.

7. attrib. and Comb., as pledge-cup (sense 4), pledge-form, pledge-jewel, pledge-mania (sense 5 b), pledge-office, pledge-ring, pledge-room; (sense 5 c) pledge-master, pledge pin, pledge week; objective and instrumental, as pledge-breaker (so pledge-breaking vbl. n. and ppl. adj.), pledge-keeper, pledge-taker; pledge-making, pledge-mongering, pledge-signing vbl. ns.; pledge-bound, pledge-free adjs.; pledge card, (a) a card on which one may sign a temperance pledge; (b) N. Amer. a card on which one expresses willingness to contribute to a fund, sponsor a charity event, etc.; † pledge-chamber, -house, a chamber or house for the confinement of sureties or debtors (Sc. obs.).

1900 Westm. Gaz. 20 Oct. 4/3 An absolute united *pledge-bound party returns to represent Ireland at Westminster.

1887 Pall Mall G. 23 May 5/2 Suggestive of the *pledge-cards issued by Bands of Hope. 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 10 Jan. 15/1 ‘Pledge’ (temperance) cards and ‘Decision’ (conversion) cards interpolated their small crises. 1967 Boston Sunday Herald Mag. 26 Mar. 19/2 In 1960 Msgr. Leonard launched an $800,000 fund drive and more than 400 volunteers distributed pledge cards throughout the parish of about 3,000 families. 1970 Toronto Daily Star 24 Sept. 17/5 Pledge cards for the walk are available at any Dominion store while anyone wishing to enter a team in the skatathon can call 889-3967.

1578 Reg. Privy Council Scot. Ser. i. III. 24 Put in ward within the *pledge chalmer of the burgh of Drumfreis. 1629 Ibid. Ser. ii. III. 12 They derned thameselffes in commodious parts ewest to the pledge chamber.

1851 D. Wilson Preh. Ann. (1863) II. iv. ix. 489 The *pledge cup and wassail bowl.

1721 Wodrow Hist. Suff. Ch. Scot. I. ii. xiii. §6 Mr. Webster and his two Friends..removed to the *Pledge-house, where Debtors used to be put.

1850 Gosse Rivers of Bible (1878) 48 The *pledge-jewels of Jesus' love.

1552 Huloet, *Pledge keper, depositarius.

1832 Mill Let. 17 Sept. in Wks. (1963) XII. 121, I should say that the *pledge-mania had been abated.

1949 Sun (Baltimore) 9 May 1/2 Santarelli..is *pledge-master for Phi Theta Upsilon Fraternity at the Northern Illinois College of Optometry.

1944 Chicago Daily News 28 Oct. 1 After the incident, Soik turned in his *pledge pin.

1891 Daily News 21 Sept. 7/2 The defendant..told her that he had had a fire in the *pledge room, and her cloak was burnt.

1552 Huloet, *Pledge taker, pignerator.

1949 Time 21 Mar. 47/2 As a finale to Brown's *pledge week, fraternity men had made the rounds of chapter houses to ‘congratulate’ each other. 1964 Amer. Speech XXXIX. 193 The social affairs that are a major concern for most students, such as..pledge and rush weeks.

    [Note. Many attempts have been made to find a Latin derivation of the med.L. and OF. words: see Diez (s.v. Plevir), Littré (s.v. Pleige), Körting; all (including Diez's own suggestion, plēbium for *præbium from præbēre fidem), unsatisfactory. The prevalent opinion now is that plevēre, -īre, was of Germanic derivation, and represented some form of WGer. plehan (OE. pleon), plegan, or Goth. *plaihwan, in sense ‘to incur risk or responsibility for, become responsible for’ (see plight n.¹), which suits the sense of the med.L. and Romanic words exactly, though not free from difficulty phonologically: see Mackel Franz. Studien VI. i. 78. Med.L plegium, plegius, plegiare, It. pieggio, were from French.]

Add: [5.] d. The promise of a donation to a charity or other cause in response to an appeal for funds; the donation itself. orig. U.S.

1923 Living Church 20 Oct. 804/2 We must frankly adopt..a taxation plan whether it be by pledges, quotas or..assessments. 1933 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 25 Jan. 3/6 The 8,000 volunteer canvassers..have obtained pledges totalling more than $5,000,000. 1968 M. Louvish tr. S. Y. Agnon's Guest for Night iii. 9 Had they bought the honor with generous donations? Not so. On the contrary, their pledges were scanty. 1986 Keyboard Player Apr. 3/2 The money was raised by listeners telephoning pledges for records to be played.

▪ II. pledge, v.
    (plɛdʒ)
    Forms: see pledge n.
    [Late ME. plege, plegge, f. pledge n., or a. OF. plegier, mod.F. pleiger to guarantee, bail, f. pleige, pledge; so med.L. plegiāre (France, 1191 in Du Cange).]
    † 1. a. trans. To become surety for, make oneself responsible for (a person, thing, or statement). Obs.

c 1450 Merlin 35 Ye haue plegged me vpon youre lyves that I shall haue no drede of deth. 1474 Caxton Chesse 37 His felawe pledgyd hym and was seurte for hym.

† b. intr. To become surety. Obs. rare.

1574 Reg. Privy Council Scot. II. 422 To caus all his freindis or servandis within Annanderdaill not ellis plegit for, to entir under plegis.

† c. trans. to pledge out: to redeem (a thing) from pawn or pledge; to ransom or bail (a person) out of prison, etc. Obs.

1464 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 266 Delyveryd to Mechegod to plege owt Brokys salatt, xij.d. 1503 in Test. Vetusta II. 454 Such pledges as she hath of mine, I woll they be pledged out by William, and he to have them. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xl. 56 So [they] brought hym to the lorde Beaumonde who incontynent dyde pledge hym out fro his maisters handes. 1530 Palsgr. 660/1, I pledge, or borowe one out of prison or captyvyte, or redeme a thyng out of pledge, je pledge. To my great coste and charge I have pledged hym out of prison.

2. a. To deliver, deposit, or assign as security for the repayment of a loan or the performance of some action; to pawn.

1515 Barclay Egloges i. (1570) A v b, His sworde and buckler is pledged at the bere. 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. (1594) 221 My estates and dignities are as it were in sequestration, and my life as it were laid in pawne and pledged vnto me. 1686 Lond. Gaz. No. 2105/4 If already sold or pawn'd,..the money [shall be] return'd for what they are pledg'd for. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 86 In the reign of Henry II. two modes of pledging lands were in use, which are fully described by Glanville. 1833 H. Martineau Manch. Strike x. 112 The..son pacing slowly to the pawnbroker's to pledge his aged mother's last blanket. 1877 Green Hist. Eng. People I. ii. ii. 139 Normandy and been pledged to him by his brother Robert.

b. fig. as in to pledge the future; also, to plight or stake (one's life, honour, troth, word, etc.).

1775 Sheridan Rivals ii. i, My vows are pledged to her. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian ii, I now pledge you that honourable word that Ellena is innocent. 1841 James Brigand xxv, To this I pledge my honour. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 182 A loyal lover, a hand pledg'd surely, shall ease me. 1890 Spectator 4 Oct. 434/1 To pledge the future to the hilt is a temporary and evanescent joy.

3. a. To put (a person, or oneself) under a pledge; to bind by or as by a pledge. Also refl.

1571 Satir. Poems Reform. xxviii. 97 Be justice airis I pledgit all the pepill, Than spairit nane thocht thay wer Innocent. 1771 Junius Lett. lxv. (1820) 328, I pledge myself, before God and my country..to make good my charge against you. 1801 E. Helme St. Marg. Cave II. 175, I here pledge myself, by all my hopes of happiness hereafter. 1827 Lytton Falkland i. 12 All eager for my commands, and all pledged to their execution. 1836 Dickens Let. ? 19 Nov. (1965) I. 198 He could not..pledge himself whether it would appear this season, or whether they would begin with it, at the opening of the next. 1850 H. Martineau Hist. Peace II. v. vi. 295 The two millions whom he had in a few months pledged to temperance. 1883 Manch. Exam. 1 Dec. 5/1 A resolution..pledging the House to deal with the subject at the first fitting opportunity.

b. trans. and intr. To enrol (a new student) in a college society. Of a student: to undertake to join a college society; to enrol in (a society). U.S.

1871 L. H. Bagg Four Years at Yale 62 They are very attentive to his wants and do not leave him until he is ‘pledged’. 1887 Lippincott's Mag. Nov. 741 If as a result of several such interviews he is approved, he is asked to ‘pledge’, that is, to promise to join the society. 1901 Munsey's Mag. Feb. 734/2 The time and manner of pledging members to the fraternities vary with different colleges. 1949 Reader's Digest Aug. 69/1 The rushing season, during which freshmen are pledged to the various houses, was in full swing. 1977 Rolling Stone 19 May 67/2 Even though Hamilton went to the University of Georgia and pledged Phi Delta Theta, his exuberant intelligence wouldn't allow him to be satisfied with conformity.

4. a. To guarantee or assure the performance of. b. To solemnly promise, or undertake to give.

1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. iii. 250 Yes, I accept her, for she well deserues it, And heere to pledge my Vow, I giue my hand. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. III. xiii. 288 Their own personal service they pledged at once.

c. To promise solemnly (to do something).

1928 Sunday Dispatch 2 Sept. 1/3 On my pledging not to disclose his name..he promptly handed over another cheque for {pstlg}10,000.

5. To give assurance or promise of friendship or fidelity to (any one) by or in the act of drinking. Also absol., or with the drink as obj. † a. To drink in response to another; to drink to a health or toast which has been proposed. Obs. b. To drink to the health of, drink a toast to; to toast.

1546 J. Heywood Prov. ii. iv. (1874) 104, I drinke, (quoth she). Quoth he, I will not pledge. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 116 He dranke a great draught, the king pledging him. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. iii. 31. 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse 22 b, You do me the disgrace if you do not pledge me as much as I drunke to you. 1602 Rowlands Tis Merrie when Gossips meete 17 This to you both, Cousse Grace, and mistresse Besse; A full Carowse, Ile haue you pledge no lesse. 1616 B. Jonson Forest ix. To Celia i, Drink to me, only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine. a 1627 Hayward in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. lxix. 10 God handleth thee no otherwise..than he handled his only Son, who hath pledged thee in this bitter potion. 1706 Potter Antiq. Greece II. iv. xx. 396 Alexander..is reported to have drank a Cup containing two Congii,..to Proteas, who commending the king's Ability, pledg'd him, then call'd for another Cup of the same Dimensions, and drank it off to him. The king, as the Laws of good Fellowship requir'd, pledg'd Proteas in the same Cup. 1727 Swift Poisoning E. Curll Wks. 1755 III. i. 149 Mr. Pope..very civilly drank a glass of sack to Mr. Curll, which he as civilly pledged. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. ii. i, Will you be so good as to pledge me, sir? 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xix. 171 Pledge him in a bumper of port. 1855 Kingsley Heroes ii. v. (1868) 169 In his hand a sculptured goblet, as he pledged the merchant kings. 1870 Bryant Iliad I. iv. 104 From cups of gold They pledged each other.

Hence pledged (plɛdʒd) ppl. a., given or put in pledge; pawned, plighted; bound by a pledge; ˈpledging vbl. n.

1538 Elyot, Pigneratio, a pledgynge or gagynge. 1552 Huloet, Pledged, pigneratus. 1579 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 164 His plege,..contenit in the buke of plegeing. 1628 Prynne (title) Healthes: Sicknesse. Or, a Compendiovs and briefe Discourse; prouing the Drinking, and Pledging of Healthes, to be Sinfull. 1860 Mill Repr. Govt. (1865) 64/1 A strong inducement..not to confine themselves to pledged party men. 1887 Daily News 21 July 6/1 The calling-in of loans on pledged property. 1893 F. Adams New Egypt 186 We believe..absolutely in the pledged word, the pledged honour of England. 1929 Old Oregon June 10 They went through rushing, pledging, moving, ‘open house’, freshman duties, in a cycle which at that time seemed to move ponderously over each event. 1959 Ann. Reg. 1958 152 At a special pledging conference in October 35 governments promised $27½ million for the Agency's work. 1964 Amer. Speech XXXIX. 194 The vocabulary of pledging, rushing.