pawning

present participle of pawn
as in depositing
to leave as a guarantee of repayment of a loan he pawned his antique watch in order to pay off his gambling debt

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 pawning Hayden Panettiere’s boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, drained the actress emotionally and financially, even pawning some of her possessions and keeping others in a storage unit, her estranged mom Lesley Vogel claims. Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 24 Aug. 2026 When interviewed by police in May, Weckesser allegedly admitted to stealing the ring from the home and re-shaping it before pawning it off. Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 26 June 2026 Following the break-in, police said Kisakye traveled to Miami and began pawning expensive jewelry. Colleen Cronin, Boston Herald, 28 May 2026 After being blackballed from the finance sector, Coop resorts to burglarizing the homes of those in his social circle and pawning the items to stay afloat. Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 1 Apr. 2026 Burglarizing the homes of those in his social circle and pawning the items just to stay afloat. Ryan Brennan april 1, Miami Herald, 1 Apr. 2026 Police were able to collect the rings and obtain security footage of Garcia pawning them. Gabriella Ybarra, San Antonio Express-News, 23 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pawning
Verb
  • Covering gray means depositing enough pigment to make white or silver strands disappear into one uniform color.
    Casey DelBasso, ABC News, 24 Aug. 2026
  • The scheme reportedly involved depositing checks from accounts with insufficient funds, then withdrawing the temporarily available money, leaving the banks to absorb the losses once the checks bounced, court records show.
    Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 23 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • The page gave a deep snort, hocking a chartreuse wad against the root of the nightingale’s birch.
    Hazlitt, Hazlitt, 19 Nov. 2025
  • Shein is far from the first online retailer to run into trouble with third-party vendors hocking controversial wares or flouting policy standards.
    Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 3 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • How To Say No Without Damaging Relationships Leaders who never build the time management skill of triage put their most important priorities at risk, mortgaging that work in more ways than one.
    Cynthia Pong, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2026
  • However, the Clippers are valuing youth, depth and future draft assets after mortgaging so much of that for the Leonard-George pairing.
    Zach Harper, New York Times, 30 June 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Pawning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pawning. Accessed 29 Aug. 2026.

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