a formal or solemn promise or agreement, esp to do or refrain from doing something
2.
a.
collateral for the payment of a debt or the performance of an obligation
b.
the condition of being collateral (esp in the phrase in pledge)
3.
a sign, token, or indication
the gift is a pledge of their sincerity
4.
an assurance of support or goodwill, conveyed by drinking to a person, cause, etc; toast
we drank a pledge to their success
5.
a person who binds himself or herself, as by becoming bail or surety for another
6. sign the pledge
verb
7.
to promise formally or solemnly
he pledged allegiance
8. (transitive)
to bind or secure by or as if by a pledge
they were pledged to secrecy
9.
to give, deposit, or offer (one's word, freedom, property, etc) as a guarantee, as for the repayment of a loan
10.
to drink a toast to (a person, cause, etc)
Derived forms
pledgable (ˈpledgable) or pledgeable (ˈpledgeable)
adjective
Word origin
C14: from Old French plege, from Late Latin plebium gage, security, from plebīre to pledge, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German pflegan to look after, care for