beg
verb (used with object)
to ask for as a gift, as charity, or as a favor: to beg forgiveness.
beg
1 American
[beg]
/ bɛg /
verb (used with object)
-
begs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
begged,
past participle, past
-
begging
present participle
-
to ask for as a gift, as charity, or as a favor: to beg forgiveness.
to beg alms;
to beg forgiveness.
-
to ask (someone) to give or do something; implore.
He begged me for mercy.
Sit down, I beg you.
-
to take for granted without basis or justification.
a statement that begs the very point we're disputing.
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to fail or refuse to come to grips with; avoid; evade.
a report that consistently begs the whole problem.
verb (used without object)
-
begs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
begged,
past participle, past
-
begging
present participle
-
to ask alms or charity; live by asking alms.
-
to ask humbly or earnestly: begging to differ.
begging for help;
begging to differ.
-
(of a dog) to sit up, as trained, in a posture of entreaty.
verb phrase
idioms
-
go begging, to remain open or available, as a position that is unfilled or an unsold item.
The job went begging for lack of qualified applicants.
-
beg the question,
-
to assume the truth of the very point raised in a question.
-
to evade the issue or avoid a direct answer.
-
to raise the question; inspire one to ask.
-
beg
2
American
[beyg, beg]
/ beɪg, bɛg /
noun
beg.
3
American
abbreviation
-
begin.
-
beginning.
beg
1
British
/ bɛɡ /
verb
-
to solicit (for money, food, etc), esp in the street
-
to ask (someone) for (something or leave to do something) formally, humbly, or earnestly
I beg forgiveness
I beg to differ
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(intr) (of a dog) to sit up with forepaws raised expectantly
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to leave unanswered or unresolved
to beg a point
-
-
to evade the issue
-
to assume the thing under examination as proved
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to suggest that a question needs to be asked
the firm's success begs the question: why aren't more companies doing the same?
-
-
to be unwanted or unused
beg
2
British
/ bɛɡ /
noun
beg
More Idioms
Usage
The use of beg the question to mean that a question needs to be asked is considered by some people to be incorrect
Synonym Usage
Beg and request are used in certain conventional formulas, in the sense of ask. Beg, once a part of many formal expressions used in letter writing, debate, etc., is now used chiefly in such courteous formulas as I beg your pardon; The Committee begs to state, etc. Request, more impersonal and now more formal, is used in giving courteous orders (You are requested to report) and in commercial formulas like to request payment.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
begsimple
-
begssimple
-
have beggedperfect
-
has beggedperfect
-
am beggingprogressive
-
are beggingprogressive
-
is beggingprogressive
-
have been beggingperfect progressive
-
has been beggingperfect progressive
Past
-
beggedsimple
-
had beggedperfect
-
was beggingprogressive
-
were beggingprogressive
-
had been beggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of beg1
First recorded before 900; Middle English beggen, by assimilation from unattested Old English bedican, variant of bedecian “to beg”; compare Gothic bidagwa “beggar”
Origin of beg2
First recorded in 1680–90; from Ottoman Turkish; see origin at bey
Explanation
To beg is to ask for something in an earnest, pleading way. You might beg your roommates to be quiet if you're desperately trying to get some sleep. You can beg your parents to let you go to a concert with your friends, and you can beg your sister for forgiveness after you inadvertently hurt her feelings. In either case, you are imploring, asking sincerely for something you want. Many dogs are skilled at this, and will beg by sitting beside you while you eat, looking adorable. Another way to beg is to ask for desperately needed charity — to solicit money or food from strangers.
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:
Change the herbs accordingly: chives and parsley are excellent with giardiniera, while Mexican-style pickled carrots practically beg for cilantro and oregano.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
"I beg really to Translink to reconsider their position on this occasion," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
“We beg you now to return our mother to us, so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
After deadly twin quakes in Venezuela, survivor Rubén Darío Sillie used social media to beg for help amid a severely delayed and criticized government response.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026
In the meantime, I’m planning to beg forgiveness on my prayer mat for the next year.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
"There is so much dust and highly polluting traffic in the market where I beg. My eyes are constantly in agony and my sight is deteriorating rapidly."
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2023
"I do my job. And I guess it turns out that I am here to plead. To beg. To please, please do yours."
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2022
“They are suffocating. They beg. They regret,” reads a caption.
From New York Times ● Nov. 8, 2021
“We beg. A lot,” DeWitt said — for donations, for grant money, for sponsorships from wealthier suburban churches.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 17, 2020
“They hang out here because, well, it’s a safe place to hang out and beg. We tolerate them, but—” “Oh, Hazel is awesome,” Don said.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
All that begs the question: How radical is the DSA?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
It begs the question what next for Spain's conductor?
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
It also begs a question: what happened to the hundreds of thousands of dogs once bred for human consumption?
From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026
The result is crusty, chewy and deeply satisfying — exactly the kind of bread that begs for a puddle of olive oil and a sprinkle of flaky salt.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
Faramir met Aragorn in the midst of those there assembled, and he knelt, and said: ‘The last Steward of Gondor begs leave to surrender his office.’
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
A bystander begged to help Good, to check her pulse and perform first aid.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Children “dropped everything, ran up to him, begged for candy and wanted to take pictures. Some children even cried and begged him for their freedom. Santa himself acted very indifferent.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Voters have begged politicians for years to do something about energy prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
And Lorne’s agent said to NBC, “You begged him to come back, you can’t do this to him.”
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
But in the last few hours of the shift, feathers had begun sprouting across Molly’s shoulders, and she’d begged Clara three times to go to Ashmodai for answers.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
“We’re urging, we’re begging, we’re pleading to send more resources,” Jurado said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
US television star journalist Savannah Guthrie made an emotional appeal Saturday for anyone with information about her mother's disappearance to come forward, saying "we are begging for help" six months after the kidnapping took place.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
“I know you have tried to do things the right way, so I’m asking you, begging you, to do the right thing now,” Guthrie said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
"I'm asking you, begging you, to do the right thing now," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
In a normal year, I’d be begging and pleading to go in late with a note of excuse.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
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.
