He got some emergency cash by pawning his watch at a pawnshop.

pawnshop 是由动词 pawn（典当、抵押）和名词 shop（商店）组成的复合词。pawn 指将物品暂时抵押给商家换取现金的行为，shop 指进行这种交易的场所。pawnshop 合起来指专门从事典当业务的商店，即"典当行"。