beg
verb (used with object)
to ask for as a gift, as charity, or as a favor: to beg forgiveness.
beg
1 American
[beg]
/ bɛg /
verb (used with object)
-
begs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
begged,
past participle, past
-
begging
present participle
-
to ask for as a gift, as charity, or as a favor: to beg forgiveness.
to beg alms;
to beg forgiveness.
-
to ask (someone) to give or do something; implore.
He begged me for mercy.
Sit down, I beg you.
-
to take for granted without basis or justification.
a statement that begs the very point we're disputing.
-
to fail or refuse to come to grips with; avoid; evade.
a report that consistently begs the whole problem.
verb (used without object)
-
begs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
begged,
past participle, past
-
begging
present participle
-
to ask alms or charity; live by asking alms.
-
to ask humbly or earnestly: begging to differ.
begging for help;
begging to differ.
-
(of a dog) to sit up, as trained, in a posture of entreaty.
verb phrase
idioms
-
go begging, to remain open or available, as a position that is unfilled or an unsold item.
The job went begging for lack of qualified applicants.
-
beg the question,
-
to assume the truth of the very point raised in a question.
-
to evade the issue or avoid a direct answer.
-
to raise the question; inspire one to ask.
-
beg
2
American
[bayg, beg]
/ beɪg, bɛg /
noun
beg.
3
American
abbreviation
-
begin.
-
beginning.
beg
1
British
/ bɛɡ /
verb
-
to solicit (for money, food, etc), esp in the street
-
to ask (someone) for (something or leave to do something) formally, humbly, or earnestly
I beg forgiveness
I beg to differ
-
(intr) (of a dog) to sit up with forepaws raised expectantly
-
to leave unanswered or unresolved
to beg a point
-
-
to evade the issue
-
to assume the thing under examination as proved
-
to suggest that a question needs to be asked
the firm's success begs the question: why aren't more companies doing the same?
-
-
to be unwanted or unused
beg
2
British
/ bɛɡ /
noun
beg
More Idioms
Usage
The use of beg the question to mean that a question needs to be asked is considered by some people to be incorrect
Synonym Usage
Beg and request are used in certain conventional formulas, in the sense of ask. Beg, once a part of many formal expressions used in letter writing, debate, etc., is now used chiefly in such courteous formulas as I beg your pardon; The Committee begs to state, etc. Request, more impersonal and now more formal, is used in giving courteous orders (You are requested to report) and in commercial formulas like to request payment.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
begsimple
-
begssimple
-
have beggedperfect
-
has beggedperfect
-
am beggingprogressive
-
are beggingprogressive
-
is beggingprogressive
-
have been beggingperfect progressive
-
has been beggingperfect progressive
Past
-
beggedsimple
-
had beggedperfect
-
was beggingprogressive
-
were beggingprogressive
-
had been beggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of beg1
First recorded before 900; Middle English beggen, by assimilation from unattested Old English bedican, variant of bedecian “to beg”; compare Gothic bidagwa “beggar”
Origin of beg2
First recorded in 1680–90; from Ottoman Turkish; see origin at bey
Explanation
To beg is to ask for something in an earnest, pleading way. You might beg your roommates to be quiet if you're desperately trying to get some sleep. You can beg your parents to let you go to a concert with your friends, and you can beg your sister for forgiveness after you inadvertently hurt her feelings. In either case, you are imploring, asking sincerely for something you want. Many dogs are skilled at this, and will beg by sitting beside you while you eat, looking adorable. Another way to beg is to ask for desperately needed charity — to solicit money or food from strangers.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"I beg your mercy so that I can be reunited with my family," he told the court.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
“You almost had to beg people to come,” LeRoy says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
“Please, please I just want something, I’ll do anything,” the hungry 8-year-old boy would beg, according to his sister, whose identity The Times is withholding because she is a juvenile.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Offering restrictions that teens can beg their parents to relax sets up a conflict between parents and children, says Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, a nonprofit child-safety organization.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
“Lou Ann. Please, I’ll do anything you ask. Please don’t separate Boo and me,” I beg.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
"There is so much dust and highly polluting traffic in the market where I beg. My eyes are constantly in agony and my sight is deteriorating rapidly."
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2023
"I do my job. And I guess it turns out that I am here to plead. To beg. To please, please do yours."
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2022
“They are suffocating. They beg. They regret,” reads a caption.
From New York Times ● Nov. 8, 2021
“We beg. A lot,” DeWitt said — for donations, for grant money, for sponsorships from wealthier suburban churches.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 17, 2020
"I do not beg. Of anyone. Mind you remember that, woman."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
One observation Lerner makes is that tech now accounts for roughly half of U.S. stock market capitalization, which begs the question: “who is the next marginal buyer?”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
Early on, after Jeanie has forgotten to pick her up from school and Delia flounces upstairs, a guilty Jeanie begs Delia to come down and talk rather than bicker by text.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
For an artist it begs for interpretation — and I just have to illustrate it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
That begs the question: Would “Practical Magic” have “found its tribe,” as Bullock puts it, if the film took place during any other season?
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
"A bribe. She begs leave to return to her castle. Your leave as well as mine. I suspect she fears you'll arrest her on the road, as you did Lord Gyles."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
No matter how much he begged them to help us, they rarely called and didn’t even visit him during the last three years of his life.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
I begged Jay-Z for over five years—he finally said yes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
For five years, Sister Schubert’s fans asked, begged and eventually petitioned for the return of a frozen food composed of two things: a small smoked sausage and a soft Parker House roll.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
She begged staff to let her keep him.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
Liz and I begged my parents for one back when Liz was in junior high.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
That’s because stealing, begging or borrowing material in service of an artistic creation made by real people is enormously different from some corporation doing it to build a better Mechanical Turk.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
Vantara's first animal, in 2009, was Gauri, an Asian elephant used for begging in Rajasthan whose condition was "very bad", keeper Kailash Nayak said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
Goodburn, 25, cried while looking down the camera, saying he was "on my knees begging" for help to ease the "unbearable suffering" of patients and their families.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
“I’ve spent my summer begging, borrowing and stealing chips,” Faber said, then clarified: “I don’t want to say steal. Begging and borrowing!”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Seven’s amulet spun wildly, and she closed her eyes, begging one final time for the thing she’d begged for whenever she thought of this night: Please let it turn purple.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
