borrow
verb (used with object)
to take or obtain with the promise to return the same or an equivalent.
borrow
1 American
[bor-oh, bawr-oh]
/ ˈbɒr oʊ, ˈbɔr oʊ /
verb (used with object)
-
borrows,
present (3rd person singular)
-
borrowed,
past participle, past
-
borrowing
present participle
-
to take or obtain with the promise to return the same or an equivalent.
Our neighbor borrowed my lawn mower.
-
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.
-
Arithmetic. (in subtraction) to take from one denomination and add to the next lower.
verb (used without object)
-
borrows,
present (3rd person singular)
-
borrowed,
past participle, past
-
borrowing
present participle
-
to borrow something.
Don't borrow unless you intend to repay.
-
Nautical.
-
to sail close to the wind; luff.
-
to sail close to the shore.
-
-
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.
idioms
Borrow
2
American
[bor-oh, bawr-oh]
/ ˈbɒr oʊ, ˈbɔr oʊ /
noun
borrow
1
British
/ ˈbɒrəʊ /
verb
-
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
-
to adopt (ideas, words, etc) from another source; appropriate
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not_standard to lend
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golf to putt the ball uphill of the direct path to the hole
-
(intr) golf (of a ball) to deviate from a straight path because of the slope of the ground
noun
-
golf a deviation of a ball from a straight path because of the slope of the ground
a left borrow
-
material dug from a borrow pit to provide fill at another
-
-
living an unexpected extension of life
-
close to death
-
Borrow
2
British
/ ˈbɒrəʊ /
noun
borrow
More Idioms
Usage
The use of off after borrow was formerly considered incorrect, but is now acceptable in informal contexts
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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borrowernoun
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nonborrowernoun
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overborrowverb
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Borrovianadjective
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borrowableadjective
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nonborrowedadjective
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unborrowedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
borrowsimple
-
borrowssimple
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have borrowedperfect
-
has borrowedperfect
-
am borrowingprogressive
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are borrowingprogressive
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is borrowingprogressive
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have been borrowingperfect progressive
-
has been borrowingperfect progressive
Past
-
borrowedsimple
-
had borrowedperfect
-
was borrowingprogressive
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were borrowingprogressive
-
had been borrowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of borrow
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”
Explanation
The word borrow means to take something and use it temporarily. You can borrow a book from the library, or borrow twenty bucks from your mom, or even borrow an idea from your friend. Usually , borrow implies taking something temporarily and returning it later. However, you can borrow non-physical things and adopt them as your own. For example, the English language has borrowed many words from other languages — such as Latin and Greek — but those words were never "given back." If you're subtracting numbers, you might have to borrow from the tens column to complete the problem.
Vocabulary lists containing borrow
ESL Library Vocabulary
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List 3
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"A Poem for My Librarian, Mrs. Long," Vocabulary from the poem
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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:
Van Nieuwerburgh said often tech companies use off-balance-sheet entities to borrow from banks and private-credit firms, and those deals usually come with little public reporting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Following a recent rule change, he adds, lenders are also offering more "flex" on how much someone can borrow as long as it's within their means.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
For example, he pointed to widening credit spreads for AI-related company debt amid an “insatiable demand” to borrow money among corporations that “won’t care if rates go up 200 points.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
Higher interest rates make it costlier to borrow money, which acts as a brake on spending and economic growth.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026
“They’re making me work, can you believe it? But you can borrow the basketball.”
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
Borrow a few inches from the precarious ledge beside the table.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
Searching on sites like AllBorrow and Borrow the Bazaar, the standard price to rent one outfit for eight days is between $120 and $200.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 9, 2026
The fund’s use of debt via New Arrangements to Borrow requires 85% approval of voting shares.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
Tricolor isn’t a private credit fund, but its businesses was built on the same idea: Borrow money from banks, lend it to borrowers who don’t have access to bank financing—for a high yield.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2025
“Even though it’s a loan company, it’s never made any loans. Not one. It just borrows money from one bank and pays it back to another. That’s all it does. Borrow and pay back.”
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
"Not all AI platforms today exude super intelligence", said computer scientist Kokil Jaidka, adding that the new name "borrows the prestige of a term researchers reserve for a much bigger leap".
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Scott’s version of“The Dog Stars” borrows its title, premise and a handful of proper names.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
It borrows from the test-and-scale model of the Zara owner Inditex, ordering new products in small batches and then buying in bulk the styles that do well.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
The Treasury Department has kept a lid on issuing longer-duration government bonds to control supply and costs as it borrows to fund the large U.S. deficit.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026
“I am not a demon. I am not any of the things you want me to be. I am just a person. A person who borrows other people’s lives for a day.”
From "Every Day" by David Levithan
Manchester United have borrowed another £90m since 30 June - and confirmed they spent £191.7m on new players this summer.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
The character seems less self-assured and more wounded than she did in the movie, making her fervently held idealistic beliefs about creative independence seem borrowed from another character.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
Property investors borrowed record sums at historically low rates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
In McPeake’s view, CoreWeave’s equity raises “were inevitable” given its debt-to-market-capitalization ratio of 0.9, which indicates that it is highly reliant on borrowed money.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
The White Rose friends borrowed a studio from a painter.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
AI-driven growth looks resistant to higher borrowing costs, spooking Treasury investors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
The U.S. economy keeps powering through inflation, tariffs and higher borrowing costs, defying a run-up in Treasury yields and a Fed rate increase.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
With borrowing costs for last month soaring to their second highest level, his room for manoeuvre is limited and he will not scoop his own Budget next month by announcing what is in it.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
When the Treasury market gets swept up in selling, yields increase, which pushes up borrowing costs for households, businesses and governments.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
Inventing a writing system from scratch must have been incomparably more difficult than borrowing and adapting one.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
