give a pledge—
1. make a solemn promise:
- During his inauguration speech he gave a pledge not to declare the island independent during his term of office.
2. promise to pay money or make a donation:
- A senior member of your staff, Charlie Phillips, acting on your behalf, gave a pledge of $10 000 to a charity function.
give the pledge—
1. = give a pledge 1:
- There was a royalist spy in the midst playing the hypocrite—Joseph Galloway, a Pennsylvania delegate—who gave the pledge and broke it.
2. (of a priest, etc.) get other people to take an oath never to drink alcohol:
- Bishop Hughes formed a Catholic abstinence society and gave the pledge to over 20,000 people.
Cf.: take the pledge—make a solemn promise never to drink alcohol:
- Eileen’s husband, who is almost permanently drunk, declares that he wants to take the pledge.