Pawns are a type of chess piece that can be used to protect other pieces or capture the opponent's pieces. The term 'pawns' can also refer to people who are used as TOOLS or hostages by others, or to things that are deposited in pledge. HOCKS (5 letters) is a term for the act of selling something to raise money, TOOLS (5 letters) refers to objects used to perform a task, HOSTAGES (8 letters) are people held against their will, and THINGSDEPOSITEDINPLEDGE (23 letters) is a phrase describing items put up as collateral.