Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
borrow [bor-oh, bawr-oh] SynonymsExamplesWord Origin See more synonyms for borrow on Thesaurus.com verb (used with object)
- 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)
- 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 trouble, to do something that is unnecessary and may cause future harm or inconvenience.
Origin of borrow before 900; Middle English borowen, Old English borgian to borrow, lend, derivative of borg a pledge; akin to Dutch borg a pledge, borgen to charge, give credit, German Borg credit, borgen to take on creditRelated formsbor·row·a·ble, adjectivebor·row·er, nounnon·bor·rowed, adjectivenon·bor·row·er, nouno·ver·bor·row, verbun·bor·rowed, adjectiveCan be confusedborrow lend loanSynonyms for borrow See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com 2. acquire, take, get; copy, pirate, plagiarize. Related Words for borrower vagabond, panhandler, bum, defaulter, borrower, supplicant, deadbeat, tramp, mendicant, hobo, asker, scrounger, rustler, account, bankrupt, risk, welsher, mortgagor Examples from the Web for borrower Contemporary Examples of borrower
After getting burned badly in the housing crash, most lenders now check everything on a borrower’s loan application.
Government Shutdown Could Slow Housing Recovery
CNBC
October 1, 2013
The borrower loses credibility, respect, and the ability to participate in the market in the future.
What the GOP Doesn’t Understand About the Debt
Daniel Gross
September 26, 2013
For a borrower, these notes add up to a loan, which they then have to pay back over the term.
Why Is Larry Summers Signing Up With Lending Club?
Matthew Zeitlin
December 14, 2012
If you cancel a $200,000 mortgage, that’s treated as $200,000 worth of income to the borrower.
Megan McArdle
November 14, 2012
They were the fault of the lender, the borrower, and the regulator.
A Famed Private Equity Guru on How Long the Pain Will Last
Greg Manning
October 21, 2008
Historical Examples of borrower
It used formerly to be more a case of the standing of the borrower.
Franklin Escher
For many years we must be a borrower in the markets of the world.
The Life, Public Services and Select Speeches of Rutherford B. Hayes
James Quay Howard
The operation was a hazardous one for the lender as well as for the borrower.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue
Various
That is true; but it will be worn out by the hand and for the profit of the borrower.
Sophisms of the Protectionists
Frederic Bastiat
That other is the “borrower” of the twenty-five millions from the Bank.
Victor Hugo
British Dictionary definitions for borrower borrow 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
- not standard to lend
- 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 grounda left borrow
- material dug from a borrow pit to provide fill at another
- living on borrowed time
- living an unexpected extension of life
- close to death
Derived Formsborrower, nounWord Origin for borrow Old English borgian; related to Old High German borgēn to take heed, give securityusage The use of off after borrow was formerly considered incorrect, but is now acceptable in informal contexts Borrow noun
- George (Henry). 1803–81, English traveller and writer. His best-known works are the semiautobiographical novels of Gypsy life and language, Lavengro (1851) and its sequel The Romany Rye (1857)
Word Origin and History for borrower borrow v.
Old English borgian “to lend, be surety for,” from Proto-Germanic *borg “pledge” (cf. Old English borg “pledge, security, bail, debt,” Old Norse borga “to become bail for, guarantee,” Middle Dutch borghen “to protect, guarantee,” Old High German boragen “to beware of,” German borgen “to borrow; to lend”), from PIE *bhergh- “to hide, protect” (see bury). Sense shifted in Old English to “borrow,” apparently on the notion of collateral deposited as security for something borrowed. Related: Borrowed; borrowing.
Idioms and Phrases with borrower borrow
In addition to the idiom beginning with borrow
also see: