borrow
verb (used with object)
to take or obtain with the promise to return the same or an equivalent.
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borrow
1 American
[bor-oh, bawr-oh]
/ ˈbɒr oʊ, ˈbɔr oʊ /
verb (used with object)
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borrows,
present (3rd person singular)
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borrowed,
past participle, past
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borrowing
present participle
-
to take or obtain with the promise to return the same or an equivalent.
Our neighbor borrowed my lawn mower.
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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.
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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.
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Nautical.
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to sail close to the wind; luff.
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to sail close to the shore.
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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
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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
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(intr) golf (of a ball) to deviate from a straight path because of the slope of the ground
noun
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golf a deviation of a ball from a straight path because of the slope of the ground
a left borrow
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material dug from a borrow pit to provide fill at another
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living an unexpected extension of life
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close to death
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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
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borrowsimple
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borrowssimple
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have borrowedperfect
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has borrowedperfect
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am borrowingprogressive
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are borrowingprogressive
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is borrowingprogressive
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have been borrowingperfect progressive
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has been borrowingperfect progressive
Past
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borrowedsimple
-
had borrowedperfect
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was borrowingprogressive
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were borrowingprogressive
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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:
This is manifested by the willingness of tech companies to bid up interest rates as they borrow to invest in artificial intelligence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
In the short term, the Federal Reserve sets interest rates that dictate what businesses and individuals pay to borrow money.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
They borrow the vocabulary of that relationship — we remember you; we know your favorites; we missed you — while removing the reciprocal part entirely.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
Higher yields, he warned, would mean companies could have to pay more to borrow money and might pass that on to customers.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
So I went to borrow some of your tools from the barn.
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 Geffens launched the company later that year, with a model used by other companies like Bag Borrow or Steal and By Rotation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 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
Borrow the warthog from Baba Joseph, I expect, thought Nhamo, but she said, “I’m glad Sister Gladys is pleased with my work.”
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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
It borrows ideas from other games, with the cards changing based on the quality of the image or sound recording used to ID the bird - as well as its rarity.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
One could argue, however, that as Alphabet rolls out more data centers — and borrows money to do it — that it is becoming more of an industrial company, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026
The contemporary Falangist movement in Spain explicitly borrows its name and iconography from Francisco Franco’s dictatorship.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2026
She borrows opera records from the public library and sings with velvety lungs powerful as morning glories.
From "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros
He oversaw the company's rapid rise through an aggressive expansion programme funded with large amounts of borrowed money.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
The $2.6 billion it borrowed runs five years.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
"It looked like a genuine opportunity," said Vharance Goodho, who borrowed money for police clearance certificates, medical examinations and other expenses.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Those vibes must have transitive properties: On a recent morning in a borrowed backyard in Santa Monica, the vibes were as impeccable as one of the actor’s famously natty red-carpet looks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
“There’s a difference between breaking a rule and bending a rule. We borrowed twenty bucks from a billionaire. We bent a law. Plus, we returned the wallet?”
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
A global selloff in the bond market this week sparked concern over rising inflation and higher borrowing costs, leading the Treasury Department to launch an unusual intervention.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
He said traders were focused on the "daunting" amounts of global borrowing from governments and corporations, as well as increases in oil prices.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
One Washington-based group, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, is urging lawmakers to commit to no new borrowing and, from there, to agree on a fiscal goal for the country.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026
Marketers are borrowing the vocabulary more readily than they are embracing some of the people who popularized it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
I remember borrowing two hundred dollars from Ben, and it feeling like a million.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
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.
