Dictionary Definition
pawn
Noun
1 an article deposited as security
2 a person used by another to gain an end [syn:
instrument, cat's-paw]
3 (chess) the least powerful piece; moves only
forward and captures only to the side; it can be promoted to a more
powerful piece if it reaches the 8th rank
4 borrowing and leaving an article as security
for repayment of the loan v : leave as a guarantee in return for
money; "pawn your grandfather's gold watch" [syn: soak, hock]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- /pɔːn/
- Rhymes with: -ɔːn
Noun
- The most common chess piece, each side having eight. Moves are only forward; attacks are only forward diagonally or en passant.
- : Someone who is being manipulated or used to some
end, usually not the end that individual would prefer.
- Though a pawn of the gods, her departure is the precipitating cause of the Trojan War.
- A type of shop that allows someone to buy and sell used items.
- An item sold to a pawn shop.
- An instance of selling to a pawn shop.
Translations
chess piece
- Bosnian: pješak, pion
- Breton: pezh gwerin
- Croatian: pješak
- Czech: pěšec
- Dutch: pion
- Esperanto: peono
- Estonian: ettur
- Finnish: sotilas
- French: pion
- German: Bauer
- Greek: πιόνι (píoni)
- Hebrew: חייל
- Norwegian: bonde
- Korean: , Oriental chess:
- Persian: سرباز
- Polish: pionek
- Portuguese: peão
- Russian: пешка
- Serbian:
- Slovak: pešiak
- Slovene: kmet
- Spanish: peón
- Swedish: bonde
someone who is being manipulated
- Dutch: pion , kleine man
- French: pion
- Finnish: pelinappula
- German: Bauer (rarely)
- Norwegian: brikke
- Polish: pionek
- Portuguese: peão
- Russian: пешка
- Spanish: peón
- Swedish: bonde
type of shop
- Dutch: pandjes, pandjeshuis
- Esperanto: garantipruntejo, lombardejo
- German: Pfandleiher
- Hebrew: חנות משכונות, בית עבוט
- Korean: 고물상 (古物商, gomulsang)
- Norwegian: pantelåner
- Portuguese: topa-tudo
- Spanish: casa de empeños
item sold to a pawn shop
- Dutch: pand
- French: occasion
- German: Pfand
- Norwegian: pant
instance of selling to a pawn shop
- Dutch: verpanding
- Finnish: panttaus
- German: Verpfändung
- Norwegian: pantsette
Translations to be categorised
Verb
- to sell something to a pawn shop.
- In the context of "gaming": to render one's opponent as a mere pawn, especially in a real-time strategy game
Synonyms
- (to sell something at a pawn shop): hock
Translations
to sell something to a pawn shop
- Dutch: verpanden
- German: verpfänden
- Romanian: a amaneta
- Spanish: empeñar
Extensive Definition
A pawn is a peon, or other powerless
person.
It can also refer to:
- Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game
- Pawn (law), another name for a pledge in certain jurisdictions
- Pawn, to sell an item to a pawnbroker, one who owns a pawnshop
- The Pawn, a 1980s text adventure
- Pawn (programming language), an embeddable programming language
- Pawn (webcomic), a 21st century webcomic by Fredrik K.T. Andersson
pawn in Portuguese: Besteiro
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Charlie McCarthy, agent, ancilla, appliance, assurance, bail, bishop, bond, borrow, bottomry, castle, chance, chessman, cog, collateral, commonality, commonalty, contrivance, creature, deposit, device, dip, dummy, dupe, earnest, earnest money, escrow, float a loan, flunky, follower, gage, gamble, get a loan, get on
credit, go bail, go-between, guarantee, guaranty, handmaid, handmaiden, handsel, hazard, hit one for, hit up,
hock, hoi polloi, hostage, hypothecate, impignorate, implement, inferior, instrument, interagent, intermediary, intermediate, intermedium, jeopardize, junior, king, knight, lever, lightweight, lower class,
lower orders, mainprise, man, masses, mechanism, mediator, medium, midwife, minion, mortgage, negotiate a loan,
organ, piece, pignus, plaything, pledge, plight, pop, post, puppet, put in hock, put in pawn,
put up, queen, raise
money, recognizance, replevin, replevy, risk, rook, run into debt, second fiddle,
secondary, security, servant, slave, spout, stake, stooge, subaltern, subordinate, surety, third stringer, token, token payment, tool, touch, toy, underling, understrapper, undertaking, vadimonium, vadium, vehicle, venture, warrant,
yes-man