borrow

borrow
[[t]bɒ̱roʊ[/t]]
♦♦♦
borrows, borrowing, borrowed
1) VERB If you borrow something that belongs to someone else, you take it or use it for a period of time, usually with their permission.

[V n] Can I borrow a pen please?...

[V n] He wouldn't let me borrow his clothes.

Ant:
2) VERB If you borrow money from someone or from a bank, they give it to you and you agree to pay it back at some time in the future.

[V n from n] Morgan borrowed ₤5,000 from his father to form the company 20 years ago...

[V from n] It's so expensive to borrow from finance companies...

He borrowed heavily to get the money together. [Also V n]

3) VERB If you borrow a book from a library, you take it away for a fixed period of time.

[V n from n] I couldn't afford to buy any, so I borrowed them from the library.

4) VERB If you borrow something such as a word or an idea from another language or from another person's work, you use it in your own language or work.

[V n] I borrowed his words for my book's title...

[V n] Their engineers are happier borrowing other people's ideas than developing their own.

5) PHRASE: V inflects Someone who is living on borrowed time or who is on borrowed time has continued to live or to do something for longer than was expected, and is likely to die or be stopped from doing it soon.

Perhaps that illness, diagnosed as fatal, gave him a sense of living on borrowed time.


English dictionary. 2008.

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  • Borrow — or borrowing can mean: to receive (something) from somebody temporarily, expecting to return it. *In finance, monetary debt *In language, the use of loanwords *In arithmetic, when a digit become smaller than limit and the deficiency is taken from …   Wikipedia

  • Borrow — Bor row, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Borrowed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Borrowing}.] [OE. borwen, AS. borgian, fr. borg, borh, pledge; akin to D. borg, G. borg; prob. fr. root of AS. beorgan to protect. ?95. See 1st {Borough}.] 1. To receive from another as a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • borrow — [bär′ō, bôr′ō] vt., vi. [ME borwen < OE borgian, to borrow, lend, be surety for, akin to beorgan, to protect & BOROUGH] 1. to take or receive (something) with the understanding that one will return it or an equivalent 2. to adopt or take over… …   English World dictionary

  • borrow — bor·row vt: to take or receive temporarily; specif: to receive (money) with the intention of returning the same plus interest bor·row·er n Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. borrow …   Law dictionary

  • borrow — O.E. borgian to lend, be surety for, from P.Gmc. *borg pledge, from PIE *bhergh to hide, protect (see BURY (Cf. bury)). Sense shifted in O.E. to borrow, apparently on the notion of collateral deposited as security for something borrowed. Cf. O.E …   Etymology dictionary

  • Borrow — Bor row, n. 1. Something deposited as security; a pledge; a surety; a hostage. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] Ye may retain as borrows my two priests. Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster] 2. The act of borrowing. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] Of your royal presence I ll… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • borrow — [v1] take for temporary use accept loan of, acquire, beg, bite, bum, cadge*, chisel*, give a note for*, hire, hit up*, lift, mooch*, negotiate, obtain, pawn, pledge, raise money, rent, run into debt, scrounge, see one’s uncle*, soak, sponge, take …   New thesaurus

  • Borrow — Borrow, Georg, geb. um 1805 in Norfolk, durchreiste als Agent der englischen Bibelgesellschaft den größten Theil Europas u. NAfrikas. Einen Hauptgegenstand seines Studiums bildeten die Zigeuner, unter denen er in seiner Jugend eine Zeit lang… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Borrow — (spr bórro), George, engl. Schriftsteller, geb. 17. Juli 1803 zu East Dereham in Norfolk, gest. 29. Juli 1881 in Oulton bei Lowestoft, war der Sohn eines Offiziers, führte in der Jugend ein Wanderleben ohne Unterricht, sogar eine Zeitlang unter… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Borrow — (Barre), Georg, geb. 1805 in Norfolk, soll als Kind unter den Zigeunern gelebt haben, durchreiste später als Agent der engl. Bibelgesellschaft Europa und einen Theil Afrikas, beschrieb das Zigeunerleben und seine eigenen Erlebnisse, viel Dichtung …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • borrow — ► VERB 1) take and use (something belonging to someone else) with the intention of returning it. 2) take and use (money) from a person or bank under agreement to pay it back later. ● be (living) on borrowed time Cf. ↑be on borrowed time… …   English terms dictionary

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