in hock

prepositional phrase

Having been pawned.

“Her necklace is in hock in order to cover some family expenses.”

OriginDutch hok →
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Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. Having been pawned.

    Her necklace is in hock in order to cover some family expenses.

  2. broadlyfigurativelyIndebted.

    The wind doesn’t stop blowing because an autocrat has a tantrum; harnessing the solar radiation that bathes our world doesn’t leave us in hock to the House of Saud.

    2022 June 5, Ezra Klein, “Your Kids Are Not Doomed”, in The New York Times
    1 more example

    As economist Paul Johnson said: “The sad truth is we are in hock to the bond markets … We are already paying many billions more in debt interest than we would be if markets were charging us the same as they are charging other countries.

    2026 June 22, Tom Clark, quoting Paul Johnson, “The ungovernable country? Why Britain keeps losing prime ministers”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
in debt

Origin

  1. Dutchhok“hutch, hovel, jail, pen, doghouse”
  2. Englishin hock

From Dutch hok (“hutch, hovel, jail, pen, doghouse”).

More words from Dutch

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

in hock. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20hock

MLA

“in hock.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20hock. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in hock,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20hock.

Source: in hock on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.