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borrow
1[ bor-oh, bawr-oh ]
verb (used with object)
- to take or obtain with the promise to return the same or an equivalent:
Our neighbor borrowed my lawn mower.
- to use, appropriate, or introduce from another source or from a foreign source:
to borrow an idea from the opposition;
to borrow a word from French.
- Arithmetic. (in subtraction) to take from one denomination and add to the next lower.
verb (used without object)
- to borrow something:
Don't borrow unless you intend to repay.
- Nautical.
- to sail close to the wind; luff.
- to sail close to the shore.
- Golf. to putt on other than a direct line from the lie of the ball to the hole, to compensate for the incline or roll of the green.
Borrow
2[ bor-oh, bawr-oh ]
noun
- George, 1803–81, English traveler, writer, and student of languages, especially Romani.
borrow
1/ ˈbɒrəʊ /
verb
- to obtain or receive (something, such as money) on loan for temporary use, intending to give it, or something equivalent or identical, back to the lender
- to adopt (ideas, words, etc) from another source; appropriate
- not_standard.to lend
- golf to putt the ball uphill of the direct path to the hole
- intr golf (of a ball) to deviate from a straight path because of the slope of the ground
noun
- golf a deviation of a ball from a straight path because of the slope of the ground
a left borrow
- material dug from a borrow pit to provide fill at another
- living on borrowed time
- living an unexpected extension of life
- close to death
Borrow
2/ ˈbɒrəʊ /
noun
- BorrowGeorge (Henry)18031881MEnglishTRAVEL AND EXPLORATION: travellerWRITING: writer George ( Henry ). 1803–81, English traveller and writer. His best-known works are the semiautobiographical novels of Gypsy life and language, Lavengro (1851) and its sequel The Romany Rye (1857)
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Usage
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Derived Forms
- ˈborrower, noun
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Other Words From
- borrow·a·ble adjective
- borrow·er noun
- non·borrowed adjective
- non·borrow·er noun
- over·borrow verb
- un·borrowed adjective
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Word History and Origins
Origin of borrow1
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Word History and Origins
Origin of borrow1
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Idioms and Phrases
- borrow trouble, to do something that is unnecessary and may cause future harm or inconvenience.
More idioms and phrases containing borrow
In addition to the idiom beginning with borrow , also see beg, borrow, or steal ; on borrowed time .Discover More
Example Sentences
To borrow an old right-wing talking point, these people are angry no matter what we do.
The rapid rise of the sharing economy is changing the way people around the world commute, shop, vacation, and borrow.
“I have coordinated with our foreign minister so we will borrow from other countries which have offered,” he said.
Much of what passes for political coverage these days is (to borrow a phrase) “bad Chucky.”
These marriages are “facts on the ground,” to borrow a phrase from the conflict in the Middle East.
At the reserve bank they may borrow as a standing right and not as a favor which may be cut off.
Germany invests money abroad, but she seems to borrow as much, and more, in the discount markets of London and Paris.
"I can't borrow money—I can't—I don't know how to do it," said Brammel peevishly.
The human species,” Charles Lamb says, “is composed of two distinct races, the men who borrow and the men who lend.
I may record here that each of my assistants has since, to borrow an Americanism, “made good.”
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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