as in tool
one that is or can be used to further the purposes of another
though he liked to play up his influence with city hall, he was really just another pawn of the political bosses
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in pledge
something given or held to assure that the giver will keep a promise
offered her license as a pawn that she would bring back the rental canoe
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in to deposit
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of pawn
Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 18 Dec. 2024
Yet The Madness resonates anyway, thanks largely to its atmosphere of all-encompassing panic, fueled by anxiety that Muncie is a pawn of nefarious individuals with the power to bend society to their will and underscored by inventive action sequences.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 28 Nov. 2024
Peter Debruge, Variety, 6 Sep. 2024
Gonzalez, along with her fiancé, Guy Vasquez, 56, pawned their diamond-cluster wedding bands this week just for gas money and food.
—Deon J. Hampton, NBC News, 13 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for pawn 
Noun
Casino hotels kept guests carefully contained, so local shops, restaurants and businesses bombed — save for pawn shops.
—Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 18 Dec. 2024
Yet The Madness resonates anyway, thanks largely to its atmosphere of all-encompassing panic, fueled by anxiety that Muncie is a pawn of nefarious individuals with the power to bend society to their will and underscored by inventive action sequences.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 28 Nov. 2024
Verb
During his time at his sister’s, Michael proactively tries to pawn the kids off on others.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 6 Sep. 2024
Gonzalez, along with her fiancé, Guy Vasquez, 56, pawned their diamond-cluster wedding bands this week just for gas money and food.
—Deon J. Hampton, NBC News, 13 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for pawn
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pawn
Verb
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During a one-year period, the casino deposited $763,196 into its bank accounts, according to an affidavit filed by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.David Fleshler, Sun Sentinel, 18 Jan. 2025
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Jamel Williams and Levar Baker changed the names of the payees listed on the checks and deposited them at banks located in central Florida between March 2023 and August 2023, according to prosecutors.Julia Marnin, Miami Herald, 16 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Bandcamp’s cut is 15% on digital sales and 10% when hocking physical stuff (t-shirts, vinyl, CDs, cassettes, etc).SPIN Staff, SPIN, 9 Jan. 2025
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Despite the league’s highest payroll and having already hocked any draft pick that wasn’t nailed down (some of them more than once), the Suns fell 15-18 on the season.John Hollinger, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Lifelong Knick fanatic here who refuses to warm to this team after our management utterly mortgaged the team's future via its absurd overpay of 4 unprotected #1s (plus a 2028 swap, plus the Bucks #1 in 2025), years in advance, for a very good, but hardly franchise-worthy, player.James L. Edwards III, The Athletic, 14 Jan. 2025
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Don’t allow Grier and McDaniel to mortgage the future in a desperate effort to win in 2025.Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Pawn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pawn. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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