The verb hock, in U.S. English, means the same as ‘to pawn.’ To pawn or hock something is to leave an object with a pawnbroker as a form of security for money lent. If the money is not returned, the item is forfeited to the pawnbroker, who will sell it in their ‘pawnshop.’ The idiom ‘in hock’ can refer to such an item being in a pawnbroker’s keeping, but also can be used in a more general sense for debt.
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Meaning of Idiom ‘In Hock’
1. When something is in hock it is in the possession of a pawnbroker and cannot be retrieved until the money lent by the broker is paid back.
2. To be in debt.
Examples Of Use
“My guitar is in hock and I need to get it out to play a gig but I don’t have any money.”
“Half my possessions are in hock and the other half are worthless.”
“Don’t put your computer in hock. I’ll lend you some money to get by.”
“I’m in hock to my cousin for five-hundred bucks.”
“What’s the point of college? You just end up in hock for years working the same dead-end job.”
Origin
This chiefly American idiom has been used since the 1800s.
Originally, to be in hock meant to be in debt or in prison. The word comes from the Dutch word hok meaning jail, pen, doghouse, hutch, or hovel” but was also used as slang to refer to debt. 1Admin. “Hock (N.1).” Online Etymology Dictionary, www.etymonline.com/word/hock.
