Definition of "pledge" []

• A solemn binding promise to do, give, or refrain from doing something: signed a pledge never to reveal the secret; a pledge of money to a charity. (noun)
• Something given or held as security to guarantee payment of a debt or fulfillment of an obligation. (noun)
• The condition of something thus given or held: put an article in pledge. (noun)
• Law Delivery of goods or personal property as security for a debt or obligation: a loan requiring a pledge of property. (noun)
• Law The contract by which such delivery is made. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "What's a pledge defined without using the word pledge recursivel ­y?"
• "Finally, Goosby says the pledge is a way of showing what he calls “continued U.S. leadership to the ultimate measure of success – increasing the number of lives saved.”"
• "But living well with diabetes is a long-term process, not a short term pledge of perfection."