pawn [pɔn]
n. 典当;抵押物;兵,卒;人质
vt. 当掉;以……担保
词源
pawn 走卒 来自古法语peon,兵,卒,来自拉丁语pedonem,步兵,来自拉丁语pedis,脚,来自PIE*ped,脚,词源同foot,biped.最初用于国际象棋卒,后引申词义走卒。
pawn 质押,典当
来自古法语pan,承认,担保,可能来自该词的另一个词义pan,布,一块布,来自拉丁语pannum, 一块布,衣服,词源同pane,panel.其原义可能为以衣服作为质押或在布上写上契约。
例句
1. He had no way to redeem his furniture out of pawn.
他无法赎回典当的家具.
2. It looks as though he is being used as a political pawn by the President.
看起来他似乎被总统当作了政治卒子。
英英解析:
To pawn something is to use it as collateral when you're borrowing money. When you pawn a necklace at a pawn shop, you get cash in exchange for it with the understanding that you can buy it back later.
The benefit when you pawn something is getting cash immediately. The down side is that you'll have to pay more money — the amount you borrowed, plus interest — to get your item back. If you aren't able to do this, the pawn shop will sell it to someone else. As a noun, a pawn is the smallest, least powerful piece in a game of chess, or a description of a person who's being used or manipulated.
Definitions of pawn
v. leave as a guarantee in return for money
“pawn your grandfather's gold watch”
synonyms:hock, soak
n. an article deposited as security
n. borrowing and leaving an article as security for repayment of the loan
n. a person used by another to gain an end
synonyms:cat's-paw, instrument
n. (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