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
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pawn
Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 19 Jan. 2025
Haiti’s suffering should not be a pawn in geopolitical games.
—Miami Herald Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 1 Jan. 2025
Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Sep. 2024
During his time at his sister’s, Michael proactively tries to pawn the kids off on others.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 6 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pawn 
Noun
The 44-year-old used to live in Old Town Pasadena, above the Crown City pawn shop.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 19 Jan. 2025
Haiti’s suffering should not be a pawn in geopolitical games.
—Miami Herald Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 1 Jan. 2025
Verb
Summer’s painkiller addiction prompted her to pawn her former father-in-law’s lawnmower in vain, resulting in an uncontested divorce and custody loss.
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Sep. 2024
During his time at his sister’s, Michael proactively tries to pawn the kids off on others.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 6 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pawn
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pawn
Verb
-
However, Mizuhara provided his dentist Ohtani's debit card number for the bank account Ohtani had opened in Phoenix, charged $60,000 to that account, then deposited the $60,000 check into Mizuhara's personal bank account.—
Kristan Hawkins,
Newsweek,
6 Feb. 2025
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Some tax-prep companies promise your money even faster: TurboTax users can get their refund deposited into a Credit Karma Money checking or savings account up to five days before the IRS. TurboTax Learn More On TurboTax’s secure site Free version TurboTax Free Edition.—
Brian Sloan,Liz Knueven,
CNBC,
5 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
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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From the team perspective, the Walker signing indicates the Astros are willing to mortgage the future to assemble a win-now roster.—
Dan Schlossberg,
Forbes,
20 Dec. 2024
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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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Cite this Entry
“Pawn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pawn. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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