beg1
[beg]
- to ask for as a gift, as charity, or as a favor: 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.
- to fail or refuse to come to grips with; avoid; evade: a report that consistently begs the whole problem.
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- to ask alms or charity; live by asking alms.
- to ask humbly or earnestly: begging for help; begging to differ.
- (of a dog) to sit up, as trained, in a posture of entreaty.
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- beg off, to request or obtain release from an obligation, promise, etc.: He had promised to drive us to the recital but begged off at the last minute.
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- beg the question, to assume the truth of the very point raised in a question.
- 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.
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Origin of beg1
before 900; Middle English beggen, by assimilation from Old English *bedican, syncopated variant of bedecian to beg; compare Gothic bidagwa beggar. See bead
Synonyms
See more synonyms for beg on Thesaurus.com2. entreat, pray, beseech, petition.
Synonym study
2. 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 report, 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.
beg2
[beyg, beg]
- bey.
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Origin of beg2
beg.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for beg
Contemporary Examples
You must atone, apologize, and beg forgiveness for the thousands of LGBT lives you have taken.
The premise was simple: sell a brand to the patient and trust that the patient will beg the doctor for the same brand.
She is not denying her behavior, and she's unwilling to beg for the public's mercy.
But a world of people who care so very passionately about figure skating for exactly 10 days every four years beg to differ.
Sotnikova Beat Kim Yu-Na? Figure Skating Is Probably Corrupt (But We Knew That)Kevin Fallon
February 21, 2014
As scandals continue to unfold in front of him, they beg more questions than I am sure Scott Walker would like to answer.
Dem’s the Breaks: GOP Investigation Gives the Left Another Reason to Point FingersDavid Freedlander
February 20, 2014
Historical Examples
He thought that our hero was about to beg to be taken back into his employ.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
For myself I beg your tolerance, your countenance and your united aid.
I beg, that I may not be sacrificed to projects, and remote contingencies.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)Samuel Richardson
I beg your pardon, dear Madam, and your patience with me on such an occasion as this.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)Samuel Richardson
He sent up to beg leave to wait upon me—I wonder at his assurance—!
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)Samuel Richardson
beg1
- (when intr , often foll by for) to solicit (for money, food, etc), esp in the street
- to ask (someone) for (something or leave to do something) formally, humbly, or earnestlyI beg forgiveness; I beg to differ
- (intr) (of a dog) to sit up with forepaws raised expectantly
- to leave unanswered or unresolvedto beg a point
- beg the question
- to evade the issue
- to assume the thing under examination as proved
- to suggest that a question needs to be askedthe firm's success begs the question: why aren't more companies doing the same?
- go begging or go a-begging to be unwanted or unused
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See also beg off
Word Origin
C13: probably from Old English bedecian; related to Gothic bidagwa beggar
usage
The use of beg the question to mean that a question needs to be asked is considered by some people to be incorrect
beg2
- a variant of bey
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for beg
v.
c.1200, perhaps from Old English bedecian "to beg," from Proto-Germanic *beth-; or possibly from Anglo-French begger, from Old French begart (see beggar). The Old English word for "beg" was wædlian, from wædl "poverty." Of trained dogs, 1816.
As a courteous mode of asking (beg pardon, etc.), first attested c.1600. To beg the question translates Latin petitio principii, and means "to assume something that hasn't been proven as a basis of one's argument," thus "asking" one's opponent to give something unearned, though more of the nature of taking it for granted without warrant.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with beg
beg
In addition to the idioms beginning with beg
- beginning of the end, the
- begin to see daylight
- begin to see the light
- begin with
- beg off
- beg the question
- beg to differ
also see:
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.