TOP

Definition of pledge noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

pledge

noun
 
/pledʒ/
 
/pledʒ/
Idioms
jump to other results
  1. a serious promise synonym commitment
    • pledge (of something) a pledge of support
    • pledge to do something Will the government honour its election pledge not to raise taxes?
    • to fulfil/break/abandon a pledge
    • pledge that… Management has made a pledge that there will be no job losses this year.
    Extra Examples
    • The new leader demanded a pledge of loyalty from each of his allies.
    • manifesto pledges on greater public spending
    • The party's election pledge was to cut income taxes by a third over the next five years.
    • spending pledges made by the government
    • The new owners gave a pledge that there would be no job losses.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • campaign
    • election
    • manifesto
    verb + pledge
    • give (somebody)
    • make
    • sign
    preposition
    • pledge on
    phrases
    • a pledge of support
    See full entry
  2. a sum of money or something valuable that you leave with somebody to prove that you will do something or pay back money that you owe
  3. Word OriginMiddle English (denoting a person acting as surety for another): from Old French plege, from medieval Latin plebium, perhaps related to the Germanic base of plight (verb).
Idioms
sign/take the pledge
  1. (old-fashioned) to make a promise never to drink alcohol
See pledge in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee pledge in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

Other results

All matches
previously
adverb
 
 
From the Word list
Oxford 3000
B1
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day