budge
verb (used without object)
to move slightly; begin to move.
budge
1 American
[buhj]
/ bʌdʒ /
verb (used without object)
-
budges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
budged,
past participle, past
-
budging
present participle
-
to move slightly; begin to move.
He stepped on the gas but the car didn't budge.
-
to change one's opinion or stated position; yield.
Once her father had said “no,” he wouldn't budge.
verb (used with object)
-
budges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
budged,
past participle, past
-
budging
present participle
budge
2
American
[buhj]
/ bʌdʒ /
noun
adjective
-
made from, trimmed, or lined with budge.
-
Obsolete. pompous; solemn.
Budge
3
American
[buhj]
/ bʌdʒ /
noun
budge
1
British
/ bʌdʒ /
verb
-
to move, however slightly
the car won't budge
-
to change or cause to change opinions, etc
Budge
2
British
/ bʌdʒ /
noun
budge
3
British
/ bʌdʒ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
budgesimple
-
budgessimple
-
have budgedperfect
-
has budgedperfect
-
am budgingprogressive
-
are budgingprogressive
-
is budgingprogressive
-
have been budgingperfect progressive
-
has been budgingperfect progressive
Past
-
budgedsimple
-
had budgedperfect
-
was budgingprogressive
-
were budgingprogressive
-
had been budgingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of budge1
1580–90; < Anglo-French, Middle French bouger to stir < Vulgar Latin *bullicāre to bubble, frequentative of Latin bullīre; see boil 1
Origin of budge2
1350–1400; Middle English bugee, perhaps akin to budget
Explanation
To budge is to move — but just a little bit. People can budge physically from where they're sitting or standing, and people can budge from opinions and positions too. If a bunch of your friends are sitting on a bench, and they're taking up too much space for you to sit, you could ask them to budge, meaning "Move over!" If you hate eggs and refuse to eat them no matter how they're cooked, you are refusing to budge from your anti-egg policy. Budge is most often used in a negative way, as in "I won't budge" or "They wouldn't budge." This word often applies to stubborn people. Since budge means to move just a tiny bit, what's the big deal? Someone who accuses you of not budging is basically saying you should.
Vocabulary lists containing budge
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List 1
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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:
Then, homeowners—many of whom had mortgage rates in the 2% and 3% range—refused to budge in order to keep their rates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Use a liquid lip product, Skinner says, because it won't budge.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Even the pandemic didn’t cause that number to budge — it has remained consistent for over a decade.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 12, 2026
That will keep the share price moving higher, even if GM’s market value doesn’t budge.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
“This dude weighs five hundred kilos! We’re never going to budge him.”
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
At 22 and nearly nine months, Alcaraz is now the youngest man to win all four majors, breaking an 87-year-old record held by the American Don Budge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 2026
Prosecutor David McLean KC said Budge and Bromell were seen chatting to each other at one point.
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2026
"The cysts don't absorb any brain tissue, they simply create a space for the parasite to live," potentially pushing aside small parts of the brain, Dr Budge said.
From BBC ● May 8, 2024
Despite the challenges the Gulf Coast faces, Budge Huskey, president and CEO of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty in Naples, said he is confident the region will bounce back.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 9, 2022
They stay in Ballygunge, Tollygunge, Salt Lake, Budge Budge, ferried by endless bumpy taxi rides back and forth through the city.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Despite the difficulties and dilemmas, her friends and colleagues agree she is not someone who budges easily.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2024
If neither side budges, Mr. Orsini said he is prepared to go to trial, an expensive and time-consuming process that will likely require, among other things, that the boy be deposed.
From New York Times ● Mar. 5, 2018
By contrast, the number of borrowed shares of the Dow Industrials barely budges around dividend record dates.
From Washington Post ● May 3, 2016
Imagine these watery budges as two long waves that move over Earth as the planet rotates.
From Slate ● Jun. 6, 2014
I feel twin surges of pride and panic as no one budges.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
More than a century later, the vocabulary has modernized, but the underlying idea has barely budged.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
The unemployment rate has barely budged, edging up from 4% in January 2025 to a still-low 4.1% as of July, although job growth has slowed markedly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
But despite some “incredible” offers, they haven’t budged.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
In the undergraduate space, federal loan limits haven’t budged since 2008, yet colleges have still raised their prices.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
The man with the newspaper hadn’t budged again, and Esperanza gently tapped him on the elbow.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
Natural-gas prices, meanwhile, are down 8% in 2026 after barely budging in 2025.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
Big companies keep trumpeting return-to-office mandates, but the amount of time that Americans work remotely is barely budging.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
Chevron and Exxon Mobil were barely budging on the heels of first-quarter earnings, falling 0.3% and rising 0.6%, respectively.
From Barron's ● May 1, 2026
"This time armed with tools I tried again. The hedgehog wasn't budging - then my wife reminded me to try vegetable oil," said Andy.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
Maybe that’s why he’s not budging from this spot.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
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.
