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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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:
For one thing, the state will absolutely not budge.
From Slate ● May 26, 2026
Green lawmaker Anna Cavazzini said "the odds are good" but warned member states would need to "budge" on parliament's main priorities.
From Barron's ● May 19, 2026
And the company faces various cost pressures, such that even when Rasgon increases his revenue expectations “fairly decently,” his profit projections barely budge.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 24, 2026
Powell and the committee refused to budge until they were ready.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 3, 2026
Sam is trying to get her to sing along to the holiday music playing from the speakers, but her mood won’t budge.
From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle
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
McLean said Budge was described as "pale white and shook up" after the incident.
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
The victory made Mr. Savitt only the second American man to win both the Australian and Wimbledon championships in the same year, following Don Budge in 1938.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 9, 2023
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
I’m hedging because the subject so lacks in novelty and only budges grudgingly from the predictable.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 22, 2022
And without Notre Dame, it’s increasingly unlikely the Big Ten budges — for now.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 6, 2022
What sells out uptown, like rice cakes, barely budges downtown.
From New York Times ● Aug. 18, 2014
I feel twin surges of pride and panic as no one budges.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
At the same time, balances for the bottom four quintiles barely budged, staying below inflation rates.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
A key gauge of expectations of where consumer prices are headed on Wall Street — the 10-year break-even inflation rate — has barely budged since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
A key gauge of expectations of where consumer prices are headed on Wall Street — the 10-year break-even inflation rate — has barely budged since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
That was just last year and the estimate hasn’t budged.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
I take my time moving to the shallow end in the hope that they’ll leave, but after a few minutes of stalling, they haven’t budged.
From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy
Big companies continue to trumpet return-to-office mandates, but the amount of time Americans work remotely is barely budging, suggesting WFH is here to stay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
Chevron and Exxon Mobil were barely budging on the heels of first-quarter earnings, falling 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively.
From Barron's ● May 1, 2026
For now, the recommended strategy is that “AI equity leadership ain’t budging for the time being.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2025
Unlike others in the crowded race for governor, who are likely to drop out if Harris jumps in, L.A.’s former mayor said he’s not budging.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2025
“They’re not budging just now on anything, Kabuo. You’re here until your trial, I think.”
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
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.
