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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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:
That reduces one’s income, and how much they can borrow.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
To borrow the dim sum moniker, it touches the heart.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
Others define liquidity more loosely to include undrawn amounts that aren’t immediately available to borrow.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
For instance, library members could only borrow one book at a time, unless it could be proved that six people in the same household could read, in which case, three books could be lent out.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
“And they gave me a book about sharks! Don’t worry, I will let you borrow it.”
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
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
The early momentum belonged to Hawaii after punter Lucas Borrow took a snap, saw plenty of open field in front of him and took off running.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2024
“Isaac was always telling me I had a narrow perspective. Anyway. Borrow anything you want.”
From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart
One could argue, however, that as Alphabet rolls out more data centers — and borrows money to do it — that it is becoming more of an industrial company, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026
The contemporary Falangist movement in Spain explicitly borrows its name and iconography from Francisco Franco’s dictatorship.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2026
The dollar’s secret sauce is the compounding network effect of a world that prices, borrows, hedges, and settles in one currency.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
He speculated that Reform's proposals could involve something like the "mutual investment model" - where the private sector borrows up front and the Welsh government pays back over time.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
She borrows opera records from the public library and sings with velvety lungs powerful as morning glories.
From "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros
"It was a private issue. According to his confession, it was about money that the... chairman borrowed from him for several years, and he asked for the return of the money several times," he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
But the head of the dig discouraged him from learning this "very difficult" script, which borrowed its cuneiform alphabet from Assyrian.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
There's no way to know exactly who borrowed the book or when, Hudson said, as the library's borrowing records from that period have since been lost.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Even when the record veers from its characters, strong thematic threads—many of which are borrowed from western epics of yore—remain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Not even the Egyptian king whose sarcophagus he’d borrowed.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
Royal Museums Greenwich recommends buying or borrowing a pair of ISO 12312-2 certified eclipse glasses.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
This supply wave is hitting at a time of record sovereign borrowing.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Investors are keenly awaiting the release of key US jobs data Friday, hoping for an idea about the state of the economy as the Federal Reserve plots its next moves on borrowing costs.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Factory margins also face pressure from increased borrowing costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
“I’m not much for borrowing money,” I said.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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.
