noun a penniless person.
a wretched fellow; rogue: the surly beggar who collects the rents.
a child or youngster (usually preceded by little ): a sudden urge to hug the little beggar.
verb (used with object) to reduce to utter poverty; impoverish: The family had been beggared by the war.
to cause one's resources of or ability for (description, comparison, etc.) to seem poor or inadequate: The costume beggars description.
Origin of beggar First recorded in
1175–1225, beggar is from the
Middle English word
beggare, beggere. See
beg1 ,
-er1 ,
-ar3 Related forms beg·gar·hood , noun Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for beggar vagabond ,
panhandler ,
bum ,
vagrant ,
supplicant ,
deadbeat ,
tramp ,
mendicant ,
hobo ,
borrower ,
asker ,
scrounger ,
rustler ,
down-and-out ,
bankrupt ,
dependent ,
suppliant ,
pauper ,
guttersnipe ,
indigent Examples from the Web for beggar Contemporary Examples of beggar Better to be a beggar in freedom,” he cried out, “than to be forced into compromises against my conscience.
Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief, doctor, lawyer, Indian chief, and all that.
In an interview, Liang said, “Air should be the most valueless commodity, free to breathe for any vagrant or beggar .”
The landays in I Am the Beggar of the World are sung only when men are absent.
I am the Beggar of the World is a book of poems, war reportage, and photographs.
Historical Examples of beggar In reply he offers me, as if I were a beggar , employment for my sons.
I can only attribute it to the love interest associated with the beggar .
And is not the whole land like a beggar on horseback riding post to the Davil?
Though I thank you heartily all the same; it would be a shame at my age to be a beggar .
Must a man be a beggar because he is run over, or because he is half blind?
British Dictionary definitions for beggar noun a person who begs, esp one who lives by begging
a person who has no money or resources; pauper
ironic , jocular , mainly British fellow lucky beggar!
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verb (tr) to be beyond the resources of (esp in the phrase to beggar description )
to impoverish; reduce to begging
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Derived Forms beggarhood or beggardom , noun 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 beggar n. c.1200, from Old French begart , originally a member of the Beghards , lay brothers of mendicants in the Low Countries, from Middle Dutch beggaert "mendicant," of uncertain origin, with pejorative suffix (see -ard ). Cf. Beguine . Early folk etymology connected the English word with bag . Form with -ar attested from 14c., but begger was more usual 15c.-17c. The feminine form beggestere is attested as a surname from c.1300. Beggar's velvet was an old name for "dust bunnies." "Beggers should be no choosers" is in Heywood (1562).
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v. "reduce to poverty," mid-15c., from beggar (n.). Related: Beggared ; beggaring . Figurative use by 1640s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
