Beg

/ˈbɛɡ/ · verb

Meaning

(intransitive) To request the help of someone, often in the form of money..

Definitions by Sense

1. (intransitive) To request the help of someone, often in the form of money.
2. (transitive) To plead with someone for help, a favor, etc.; to entreat.
3. (transitive) To unwillingly provoke a negative, often violent, reaction.
4. (transitive or intransitive) To obviously lack or be in need of something.
5. (transitive) In the phrase beg the question: to assume.
6. (transitive, proscribed) In the phrase beg the question: to raise (a question).
7. (transitive, law, obsolete) To ask to be appointed guardian for, or to ask to have a guardian appointed for.
8. The act of begging; an imploring request.

Example Sentences

He begged on the street corner from passers-by.

I beg your pardon. I didn’t mean to cause offence.

He begged her to go to the prom with him.

you do beg your good will in this case.

[Joseph] begged the body of Jesus.

But that same day came Sam Tewkesbury to the Why Not? about nightfall, and begged a glass of rum, being, as he said, 'all of a shake' [...]

The way you keep eating raw meat, you're just begging to get tapeworms.

A captivating novel that just begs for a movie adaptation

Synonyms for beg

Antonyms for beg

Related Words

Word Forms

• begs
• begging
• begged

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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