pledging

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The act of making a formal promise or commitment to give, do, or support something.

   The pledging of allegiance opened the ceremony with solemn formality.

   Public pledging of large donations often inspires others to contribute.

   Similarswearing, promising

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of pledge.

   The students are pledging their loyalty to the club this week.

   Donors kept pledging more funds as the campaign gained momentum.

   Note

   The -ing form carries every verb sense of pledge: promising (pledging loyalty), pawning (pledging property as security), and the toast of drinking to someone's health. The final e drops before -ing. As a gerund it still takes a direct object, as in pledging funds. That is how to tell it from the noun for the act, which needs of and can be plural: the pledging of allegiance, repeated pledgings.

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