During financial hardships, some people turn to pawnbroking by exchanging jewelry for short-term loans.

pawnbroking 是由名词 pawn（典当物）加上 broker（经纪人）组合，再加上 -ing 后缀构成的动名词形式。pawn 指"抵押品"，broker 指"中介"，合起来表示"从事典当业务"的行为。 pawnbroking 指"典当业务"，即通过抵押贵重物品获取短期贷款的商业活动。