beggar

American  

[beg-er] / ˈbɛg ər /

noun

1. a person who begs beg alms or lives by begging. beg.

2. a penniless person.

3. a wretched fellow; rogue.

   the surly beggar who collects the rents.

4. a child or youngster (usually preceded bylittle ).

   a sudden urge to hug the little beggar.

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verb (used with object)

1. to reduce to utter poverty; impoverish.

   The family had been beggared by the war.

2. to cause one's resources of or ability for (description, comparison, etc.) to seem poor or inadequate.

   The costume beggars description.

beggar British  

/ ˈbɛɡə /

noun

1. a person who begs, esp one who lives by begging

2. a person who has no money or resources; pauper

3. ironic  fellow

   lucky beggar!

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verb

1. to be beyond the resources of (esp in the phrase to beggar description )

2. to impoverish; reduce to begging

Other Word Forms

• beggarhood noun

Etymology

Origin of beggar

First recorded in 1175–1225, beggar is from the Middle English word beggare, beggere. See beg ¹, -er ¹, -ar ³

Example Sentences

“It kind of beggars credulity that that number of complaints could be raised and that none could be substantiated,” Johnson said.

From Los Angeles Times

"Having been in a video in such tragic circumstances, it's beggars belief why people want to do that," she said.

From BBC

He inherited the job of impoverishing his resource-rich country on the death of Hugo Chávez—who had himself been beggaring Venezuela since 1999.

From The Wall Street Journal

"I see more and more beggars in town as people are starving. People have no jobs and so the election seems like a distant prospect. They have no time to be interested in it."

From Barron's

King Lear, bearing the brunt of a storm, looks at what he thinks is a mad beggar and wonders if “unaccommodated man” is no more than “a poor, bare, forked animal.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bum
• panhandler
• vagabond