borrowing

American

[bor-oh-ing, bawr-] / ˈbɒr oʊ ɪŋ, ˈbɔr- /

noun

the act of one who borrows.
the process by which something, as a word or custom, is adopted or absorbed.
the result of such a process; something borrowed, as a foreign word or phrase or a custom.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

borrowings

plural

Etymology

Origin of borrowing

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at borrow, -ing ¹

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:

borrowing borrowings

In the North Star deal, a shell company is borrowing the $63 billion to buy the chips designed by Broadcom and Google, known as tensor processing units.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

If sustained, that surge in yields will increase the cost to the government of making interest payments, and the difficulty of reducing borrowing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

The bond market’s moves have been on investors’ minds, because higher yields mean higher costs for hyperscalers and other companies borrowing to fund the AI-infrastructure build-out.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

Rising bond yields cause tighter financing conditions and can push up borrowing costs for businesses and households, similar to the impact of higher rates.

From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026

“I’ve been borrowing Clayton Bender’s identity for thirty years. Let me share it with you for a few minutes.”

From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson

Viatris said it plans to fund the Pacira acquisition primarily from excess cash, with the remainder from short-term borrowings, adding that it expects the deal will have minimal impact on its gross leverage ratio.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

The club's latest quarterly figures showed total borrowings of £1.29bn, including outstanding transfer fees.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

As of June 30, SpaceX had $93.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents, as well as $6.48 billion of short-term marketable securities and borrowings under credit facilities.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

If that happens, he said, it could raise bills for electric customers since the utility may have to pay a higher interest rate for new borrowings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Scholars have long acknowledged such borrowings as moccasins, maize, and military tactics—the Indian-style guerrilla skirmishes with which the rebellious colonists bedeviled British soldiers.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023