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pawnbroking

pawnbroking

5.6
A business that lends money when you leave a valuable item it can sell if you do not repay
  • noun
  • /ˈpɔːnˌbroʊkɪŋ/
translation icon : empeñamiento
  • In times of financial difficulty, many turn to pawnbroking as a way to access quick funds using personal items.

Examples

  • Micawber: Have I again the pleasure of beholding the infant scourge of the pawnbroking profession?

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The local shop provides pawnbroking services, allowing people to secure loans with their valuables.

  • She decided to visit a pawnbroking establishment to get some cash for her old jewelry.

Synonyms

pawnbrokerage
vspawnbroking
8.4

A shop that lends money if you leave something you own as a promise to pay

refers to the general business or practice rather than a single shop

How Formal

institutional
98 4.5
bank loan
14 2.3
pawnbroking
5.6
loansharking
  • NSFW
1 8.2

Surface Forms

pawnbroking singular
pawnbrokings plural

Morphology

pawnbroking = pawn + broking (transparent) = pawn + broking

The word is a straightforward combination meaning the business/activity of broking in pawns, which learners can derive from 'pawn' + 'broking'.

Etymology

Pawnbroking comes from pawn, which originally meant 'pledge' — something you give as a promise and that is kept until you pay it back — and broker, a person who arranges deals, so pawnbroking is the business of taking your item as a 'pledge' in exchange for a short loan.