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

"This is not merely a matter of borrowing money; it is about shaping the very structure and direction of the nation's development."

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026

And beauty is relative, especially when it comes to borrowing.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

Indeed the Thai finance minister was boasting to me of how little his borrowing costs had gone up, especially in relation to the US.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

For instance, cloud-computing company CoreWeave saw its cost of borrowing soar over the past two sessions as shares in chip makers and data center companies are falling sharply across the globe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Then borrowing from the school’s motto, “Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve,” I added: “If you elect me I will go forth to serve all of you.”

From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez

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

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

This follows the failure of last week’s big idea, which was to pay down some of the borrowings with…er…borrowed money.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026

Those obligations are growing faster than traditional “capex,” which totaled about $600 billion over the past year they reported, and were about triple what the companies owe under their outstanding leases and long-term borrowings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 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