beg
//ˈbɛɡ//
Forms
- present (v1)
- beg
- past (v2)
- begged
- past participle (v3)
- begged
- present participle
- begging
- 3rd person singular
- begs
- Plural
- begs
Definitions
1.To request the help of someone, often in the form of money.
- He begged on the street corner from passers-by.
2.To plead with someone for help, a favor, etc.; to entreat.
- He begged her to go to the prom with him.
- I beg your pardon. I didn’t mean to cause offence.
3.To unwillingly provoke a negative, often violent, reaction.
- The way you keep eating raw meat, you're just begging to get tapeworms.
4.To obviously lack or be in need of something.
- The colors in this cell are as dull as its architects must have been. An endless expanse of drab-green textured walls, contrasting with the gray concrete floor. It begs redecoration.
1.The act of begging; an imploring request.
2.A pretentious, attention-seeking, or eccentric person.(slang)
3.Alternative form of bey.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #3094
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Uncommon
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English beggen, of uncertain origin.
Possibly from Old English *becgian, *bedcian, syncopated forms of bedecian (“to beg”), itself of obscure origin.