Frānk'plēdge, n.

(-plēj), n. (O. Eng. Law.) (a.) A pledge or surety for the good behavior of freemen; a member of an ancient decenary, tithing, or friborg in England, being a pledge for the good conduct of the others, for the preservation of the public peace; a free surety. (b.) The tithing itself. Bouvier.

The servants of the crown were not, as now, bound in frank-pledge for each other. Macaulay.