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View synonyms for borrow

borrow

1

[ bor-oh, bawr-oh ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to take or obtain with the promise to return the same or an equivalent:

    Our neighbor borrowed my lawn mower.

  2. 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.

    Synonyms: plagiarize, pirate, copy, get, take, acquire

  3. Arithmetic. (in subtraction) to take from one denomination and add to the next lower.


verb (used without object)

  1. to borrow something:

    Don't borrow unless you intend to repay.

  2. Nautical.
    1. to sail close to the wind; luff.
    2. to sail close to the shore.
  3. 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

  1. George, 1803–81, English traveler, writer, and student of languages, especially Romani.

Borrow

1

/ ˈbɒrəʊ /

noun

  1. 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)


borrow

2

/ ˈbɒrəʊ /

verb

  1. 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
  2. to adopt (ideas, words, etc) from another source; appropriate
  3. not_standard.
    to lend
  4. golf to putt the ball uphill of the direct path to the hole
  5. intr golf (of a ball) to deviate from a straight path because of the slope of the ground

noun

  1. golf a deviation of a ball from a straight path because of the slope of the ground

    a left borrow

  2. material dug from a borrow pit to provide fill at another
  3. living on borrowed time
    living on borrowed time
    1. living an unexpected extension of life
    2. close to death

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Usage

The use of off after borrow was formerly considered incorrect, but is now acceptable in informal contexts

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Derived Forms

  • ˈborrower, noun

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Other Words From

  • borrow·a·ble adjective
  • borrow·er noun
  • non·borrowed adjective
  • non·borrow·er noun
  • over·borrow verb
  • un·borrowed adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of borrow1

First recorded before 900; Middle English borowen, Old English borgian “to borrow, lend,” verb derivative of borg “a pledge”; cognate with Dutch borg “a pledge,” borgen “to charge, give credit,” German Borg “credit,” borgen “to take on credit”

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Word History and Origins

Origin of borrow1

Old English borgian ; related to Old High German borgēn to take heed, give security

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. 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 .

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Example Sentences

They uncovered evidence that he had dipped into his clients’ insurance premiums for his own uses and borrowed money to keep his real estate business afloat.

This is not to single you out, “Navigating,” just borrowing you to make a larger point that’s been bugging me a lot lately.

This task was borrowed from an old experiment that asked lab subjects to turn little wooden pegs.

Mobile lending apps have become an easy source of credit for Kenyans who don’t have accounts with banks and other traditional financial institutions, or the regular income needed to borrow from such establishments.

From Quartz

Then again, the glory of American cuisine is the way it borrows from other cultures and comes up with something all its own.

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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Borrominiborrowed time