Definition of mortgage in English:

1A legal agreement by which a bank or other creditor lends money at interest in exchange for taking title of the debtor's property, with the condition that the conveyance of title becomes void upon the payment of the debt.

1. 1.1A loan obtained through the conveyance of property as security.
   ‘I put down a hundred thousand in cash and took out a mortgage for the rest’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Last month the building society launched a mortgage with an interest rate capped at 4.99% until May 2009.’
   • ‘Surely the interest paid over the life of the mortgage is enough for banks and building societies to absorb the costs themselves?’
   • ‘They take out mortgages and life insurance policies.’
   • ‘Although borrowers may be comfortable taking out loans and mortgages at current interest rates, what is the likelihood of a rise in rates, over the medium to long term?’
   • ‘Additional finance was to be raised by a mortgage with the Yorkshire Bank.’
   • ‘Thanks to new regulations that came into effect last October, mortgages are now overseen by the Financial Services Authority.’
   • ‘If they continue, many mortgages will be difficult to service.’
   • ‘Of the two main products, lifetime mortgages will come under FSA regulation and ombudsman protection, but home reversion plans will not - at least for the time being.’
   • ‘More fixed-rate mortgages will also help to bring Britain into line with other countries in the European Union and hasten entry into the single monetary system - the euro.’
   • ‘While speaking of mortgages what will happen to them during 2001?’
   • ‘What do you think the increased cost of mortgages will do for your boom?’
   • ‘So a customer with a flexible mortgage will be able to overpay, underpay and apply for a payment holiday or funds from the draw-down facility to coincide with their changing circumstances.’
   • ‘Now she is worried about her mortgage, which will soon have to be renewed, as doubts grow over the direction of interest rates.’
   • ‘Our new mortgage will be for 15 years rather than 25 because I would like to pay it off as soon as I can.’
   • ‘Special deals, such as fixed and capped rate mortgages, will usually carry these penalties.’
   • ‘Our guide through the mortgage maze will help house-hunters identify the right product for their needs.’
   • ‘These sub-prime mortgages have a terrible record.’
   • ‘However, some mortgages will suit your needs better than others, so how do you decide which one's best for you?’
   • ‘A Your job history and how well you have repaid past debts are important factors in whether you'll qualify for a mortgage.’
   • ‘Obtaining a mortgage anywhere will depend largely on the ability of the borrower to repay the loan.’
2. 1.2A deed effecting the conditions of a mortgage.
   More example sentences

   • ‘The piece of paper that documents this pledge is usually called a mortgage or a deed of trust.’
   • ‘Correspondence, deeds, mortgages, and business papers document the Burnett Family of Marshall County, Illinois.’
   • ‘It had won its case in 1994, when a French court decided that Windsor had signed a mortgage deed.’
   • ‘I am terrified that signing a mortgage will make me sacrifice my time to pay for a shell to house my life.’
   • ‘It is claimed that his signature is on a joint mortgage document with Smith and that meant he could undertake a complex financial transaction as part of the deal.’
   • ‘Sounds a bit like me with my mortgage deeds, come to think of it.’
   • ‘How do you complain against the organisation that probably holds your mortgage deeds?’

1Convey (a property) to a creditor as security on a loan.

1. 1.1Expose to future risk or constraint for the sake of immediate advantage.
   ‘some people worry that selling off federal assets mortgages the country's future’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Middle-class British parents, meanwhile, are mortgaging their futures to keep their children out of state schools, or to buy homes in areas where the local state school has a civilized reputation.’
   • ‘They are wasting their youth and mortgaging their future.’
   • ‘We are on a spending spree that's mortgaging our children's futures, and I feel very strongly about that.’
   • ‘Isn't true wealth the ability to live abundantly without mortgaging your future?’
   • ‘At the same time, they are mortgaging the future of our children and our country.’
   • ‘We should focus on measures that help the current economy without further mortgaging our future.’
   • ‘He railed against the banks, the shops, the ‘irresistible power’ of advertising and the fact that we have all, supposedly, mortgaged our future for a relentless, driven, empty consumerism.’
   • ‘The hard truth is, California's future is already mortgaged.’
   • ‘Inspections are a form of appeasement - they will buy a little time, but ultimately they mortgage our future to a dictator.’
   • ‘If a team is young they must mortgage the future so that they can win in the here and now.’
   • ‘But students cannot mortgage their future earnings potential to pay for their living expenses in the present.’
   • ‘However there were risks in mortgaging means of production.’
   • ‘However, they have simply mortgaged worker's futures, preparing the way for more wide-ranging attacks affecting the great majority of the workforce as are now taking place.’
   • ‘It is easy to say that these actions mortgaged the future.’
   • ‘‘We're not going to mortgage the future in order to win a few extra games the first season,’ he says.’
   • ‘Slashing college budgets doesn't mortgage the future, it potentially eradicates it.’
   • ‘Whenever a nation or nations go to war, they mortgage the lives of future generations.’
   • ‘He is borrowing to buy the club, thus effectively mortgaging its future.’
   • ‘Yet they aren't in bad shape for a franchise that mortgaged its future.’
   • ‘In such a situation, younger people may question whether their futures should be mortgaged to care for those who are making no productive contributions to society for such an extended portion of their lives.’