Security.
Synonyms:
bail, earnest, gage, pledge, surety.
The first four words agree in denoting something given or deposited as an assurance of something to be given, paid, or done. An earnest is of the same kind as that to be given, a portion of it delivered in advance, as when part of the purchase-money is paid, according to the common expression, "to bind the bargain." A pledge or security may be wholly different in kind from that to be given or paid, and may greatly exceed it in value. Security may be of real or personal property—anything of sufficient value to make the creditor secure; a pledge is always of personal property or chattels. Every pawnshop contains unredeemed pledges; land, merchandise, bonds, etc., are frequently offered and accepted as security. A person may become security or surety for another's payment of a debt, appearance in court, etc.; in the latter case, he is said to become bail for that person; the person accused gives bail for himself. Gage survives only as a literary word, chiefly in certain phrases; as, "the gage of battle."
Prepositions:
Security for the payment of a debt; security to the state, for the prisoner, in the sum of a thousand dollars.