borrow
verb (used with object)
to take or obtain with the promise to return the same or an equivalent.
borrow
1 American
[bor-oh, bawr-oh]
/ ˈbɒr oʊ, ˈbɔr oʊ /
verb (used with object)
-
borrows,
present (3rd person singular)
-
borrowed,
past participle, past
-
borrowing
present participle
-
to take or obtain with the promise to return the same or an equivalent.
Our neighbor borrowed my lawn mower.
-
to use, appropriate, or introduce from another source or from a foreign source.
to borrow an idea from the opposition;
to borrow a word from French.
-
Arithmetic. (in subtraction) to take from one denomination and add to the next lower.
verb (used without object)
-
borrows,
present (3rd person singular)
-
borrowed,
past participle, past
-
borrowing
present participle
-
to borrow something.
Don't borrow unless you intend to repay.
-
Nautical.
-
to sail close to the wind; luff.
-
to sail close to the shore.
-
-
Golf. to putt on other than a direct line from the lie of the ball to the hole, to compensate for the incline or roll of the green.
idioms
Borrow
2
American
[bor-oh, bawr-oh]
/ ˈbɒr oʊ, ˈbɔr oʊ /
noun
borrow
1
British
/ ˈbɒrəʊ /
verb
-
to obtain or receive (something, such as money) on loan for temporary use, intending to give it, or something equivalent or identical, back to the lender
-
to adopt (ideas, words, etc) from another source; appropriate
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not_standard to lend
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golf to putt the ball uphill of the direct path to the hole
-
(intr) golf (of a ball) to deviate from a straight path because of the slope of the ground
noun
-
golf a deviation of a ball from a straight path because of the slope of the ground
a left borrow
-
material dug from a borrow pit to provide fill at another
-
-
living an unexpected extension of life
-
close to death
-
Borrow
2
British
/ ˈbɒrəʊ /
noun
borrow
More Idioms
Usage
The use of off after borrow was formerly considered incorrect, but is now acceptable in informal contexts
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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borrowernoun
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nonborrowernoun
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overborrowverb
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Borrovianadjective
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borrowableadjective
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nonborrowedadjective
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unborrowedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
borrowsimple
-
borrowssimple
-
have borrowedperfect
-
has borrowedperfect
-
am borrowingprogressive
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are borrowingprogressive
-
is borrowingprogressive
-
have been borrowingperfect progressive
-
has been borrowingperfect progressive
Past
-
borrowedsimple
-
had borrowedperfect
-
was borrowingprogressive
-
were borrowingprogressive
-
had been borrowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of borrow
First recorded before 900; Middle English borowen, Old English borgian “to borrow, lend,” verb derivative of borg “a pledge”; cognate with Dutch borg “a pledge,” borgen “to charge, give credit,” German Borg “credit,” borgen “to take on credit”
Explanation
The word borrow means to take something and use it temporarily. You can borrow a book from the library, or borrow twenty bucks from your mom, or even borrow an idea from your friend. Usually , borrow implies taking something temporarily and returning it later. However, you can borrow non-physical things and adopt them as your own. For example, the English language has borrowed many words from other languages — such as Latin and Greek — but those words were never "given back." If you're subtracting numbers, you might have to borrow from the tens column to complete the problem.
Vocabulary lists containing borrow
ESL Library Vocabulary
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List 3
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"A Poem for My Librarian, Mrs. Long," Vocabulary from the poem
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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:
“If you can borrow at 5%, 5.25%, 5.5%, and generate a 20% return, as a corporate CEO, that is what you should be doing,” she said in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Students from Wales studying away from home can borrow up to £11,570 in the 2026-27 academic year.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
If diesel stays high, the bill for all three lands where you shop, save and borrow.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
That shift pushes up the rates Washington pays to borrow, he explained.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
“Okay. Can I borrow the crate? You can have mine until I can bring it back.”
From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones
Borrow a few inches from the precarious ledge beside the table.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
Searching on sites like AllBorrow and Borrow the Bazaar, the standard price to rent one outfit for eight days is between $120 and $200.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 9, 2026
The fund’s use of debt via New Arrangements to Borrow requires 85% approval of voting shares.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
Tricolor isn’t a private credit fund, but its businesses was built on the same idea: Borrow money from banks, lend it to borrowers who don’t have access to bank financing—for a high yield.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2025
“Even though it’s a loan company, it’s never made any loans. Not one. It just borrows money from one bank and pays it back to another. That’s all it does. Borrow and pay back.”
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
Italy, despite its much larger debt, now borrows at cheaper rates than France.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
The character design, which borrows from anime, is elegant and a little odd — hands and feet are drawn tiny, which has the paradoxical effect of drawing your attention, making them more expressive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
It borrows from the test-and-scale model of the Zara owner Inditex, ordering new products in small batches and then buying in bulk the styles that do well.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
The council borrows money to pay for capital projects, with its borrowing limit currently standing at £1.6 billion.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
“Even though it’s a loan company, it’s never made any loans. Not one. It just borrows money from one bank and pays it back to another. That’s all it does. Borrow and pay back.”
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
Each borrowed about £37,500 to cover three years of tuition and living costs.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
Apart from the turtle story, which made it into the episode “Field Trip,” very few of Arnold’s adventures were directly borrowed from Bartlett’s life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
"We borrowed some microphones, Kevin had built a small computer and we recorded the first album like that, basically just hanging out together," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
Debt among older Americans is rising, both in terms of the number of older households carrying debt and the amount borrowed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
So in Cuba he borrowed some from Pérez.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
The AI borrowing spree has also reshaped the bond market and helped drive yields higher.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 11, 2026
Long-term Treasury yields have been on the march since the summer, raising borrowing costs across the economy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
She earns £85,000 a year and decided last year to clear her student debt by borrowing money from her family instead.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
Investors are worried that surging Treasury yields will hit small companies where it hurts most: their borrowing costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
I decide questions about me borrowing her sunglasses are easier to take than questions re my eyes, so I put them back on.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
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.
