I. pledge 1 /pledʒ/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: plege , from Late Latin plebium , from plebere 'to pledge' ]
1 . PROMISE formal a serious promise or agreement, especially one made publicly or officially
pledge of
a pledge of support for the plan
pledge to do something
the government’s pledge to make no deals with terrorists
make/take/give a pledge
Parents make a pledge to take their children to rehearsals.
keep/fulfil/honour a pledge
Eisenhower fulfilled his election pledge to end the war in Korea.
2 . MONEY a promise to give money to an organization:
Donors have made pledges totaling nearly $4 million.
pledge of
a pledge of $200 to the public TV station
3 . SOMETHING VALUABLE something valuable that you leave with someone else as proof that you will do what you have agreed to do
4 . US COLLEGES someone who has promised to become a member of a ↑ fraternity or ↑ sorority at an American university
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ make/give a pledge
Several European countries made similar pledges.
▪ take a pledge literary (=make one, especially formally)
He took a pledge never to drink again.
▪ keep a pledge (=do what you promised to do)
He has not kept his election pledges.
▪ fulfil/honour a pledge (=more formal than keep)
The time is coming when they will have to honour that pledge.
▪ renege on a pledge formal (=not keep it)
The government reneged on its electoral pledges.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + pledge
▪ an election/campaign/manifesto pledge
The governor had kept her campaign pledge to slash taxes.
▪ a spending pledge BrE:
I asked him to clarify Labour’s spending pledges.
▪ a firm pledge
He also gave a firm pledge to build up the National Health Service.
▪ a solemn pledge
We will not forget. That is a solemn pledge.
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THESAURUS
▪ promise a statement that you will definitely do or provide something, which may not be reliable:
‘I’ll call you tomorrow.’ ‘Is that a promise?’
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Politicians are always making promises.
▪ pledge a public or official promise to do a particular thing in the future:
The Government has fulfilled at least 50% of its election pledges.
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We have received pledges of help from various organizations.
▪ vow a very serious promise to do something or not to do something that you choose to make:
He made a vow never to drink alcohol again.
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your marriage vows
▪ oath a formal promise, especially one that someone makes in a court of law:
Witnesses swear a solemn oath to tell the truth.
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Public officials must take an oath to support the US Constitution.
▪ undertaking a serious or public promise to do something, especially something difficult which needs a lot of effort or money:
The police have given an undertaking to reduce street crime in the city centre.
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He was made to sign a written undertaking that he would not go within a mile of her house.
▪ assurance a promise that something will happen or is true, made so that someone is less worried or more confident:
You have my assurance that it won’t happen again.
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The manager gave me his personal assurance that the goods would be delivered today.
▪ guarantee a very definite promise that something will happen. A guarantee is also a formal written promise by a company to repair or replace a product free if it has a fault within a fixed period of time.:
With any diet, there’s no guarantee of success.
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I’m afraid I can’t give you a 100% guarantee.
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Is the camera still under guarantee (=within the period during which it can be repaired or replaced free) ?
II. pledge 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . PROMISE to make a formal, usually public, promise that you will do something
pledge something to something/somebody
Moore pledged $100,000 to the orchestra at the fund-raising dinner.
pledge to do something
The new governor pledged to reduce crime.
pledge that
Herrera pledged that his company will give aid to schools.
pledge (your) support/loyalty/solidarity etc
He pledged his cooperation.
pledge yourself to (do) something
Trade unions pledged themselves to resist the government plans.
2 . MAKE SOMEBODY PROMISE to make someone formally promise something:
Employees were pledged to secrecy.
3 . LEAVE SOMETHING to leave something with someone as a ↑ pledge 1 (3)
4 . US COLLEGES to promise to become a member of a ↑ fraternity or ↑ sorority at an American university
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THESAURUS
▪ promise to tell someone that you will definitely do something, or that something will happen:
He promised to give the book back.
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The organisers have promised that this year’s event will take place.
▪ swear to make a very serious and sincere promise, for example in a law court:
He had sworn to tell the truth.
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I would never do that, I swear.
▪ give somebody your word especially spoken to promise sincerely that you will do something or that something is true – often used when you are trying to persuade someone that they can trust you:
I give you my word that your money is safe with me.
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I’ll let you go out tonight if you give me your word that you’ll be home by 11.
▪ vow to make a very serious promise, often to yourself:
She vowed that she would never drink alcohol again.
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They vowed to carry on their campaign for justice.
▪ assure to promise someone that something will happen or that something is true, in order to try to make them feel less worried:
Police have assured the public that they are doing everything they can to find the killer.
▪ guarantee to promise that you will make sure that something will definitely happen, so that there is no question of it not happening:
I guarantee that you will have the documents by tomorrow.
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How can you guarantee that this won’t happen again?
▪ pledge to promise publicly or officially that you will do something, for example to give help or money:
The government has pledged to increase overseas aid to $4 billion over the next five years.
▪ undertake formal to make an official or legal promise to do something:
The government undertook to keep price increases to a minimum.
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The two sides undertook to respect each other’s territory.
▪ commit to something formal to make a firm and definite promise to do something important, which will affect you for a long time and which could result in serious effects if you fail:
Bobby felt unready to commit to a romantic relationship.
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A group of 11 companies has committed to developing a new passenger plane.