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borrow definition

bor·row (bär′ō, bôr′-)

transitive verb, intransitive verb

  1. to take or receive (something) with the understanding that one will return it or an equivalent
  2. to adopt or take over (something) as one's own to borrow a theory
  3. to adopt and naturalize (a word, etc.) from another language the word depot was borrowed from French
  4. Arith. in subtraction, to take (a unit of ten) from the next higher place in the minuend and add it to the next lower place: done when the number to be subtracted in the subtrahend is greater than the corresponding number in the minuend

Etymology: ME borwen < OE borgian, to borrow, lend, be surety for, akin to beorgan, to protect & borough

Related Forms:

borrow Idioms

borrow trouble

☆
to worry about anything needlessly or before one has sufficient cause

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

idioms borrow idiom

borrow Synonyms

borrow

v.

  1. To receive temporarily

    accept the loan of, obtain the use of, negotiate a loan for, get a loan, go into debt, get temporary use of, use, pledge, rent, hire, acquire, obtain, give a note for, raise money, touch up for*, sponge*, sponge on, sponge off*, hit up for*, bum*, beg*, cadge*, chisel*, mooch*, scrounge*, borrow from Peter to pay Paul*.

    Antonyms lend*, loan*, give back. *

  2. To adopt

    appropriate, assume, make one's own, plagiarize; see adopt 2.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

borrow Usage Examples

Object

  • money: People borrow extra money against the security of their home to spend on a holiday or a new car.

Adjective complement

  • less: Amount that wanting to borrow less than 75 % of your gross annual income.

Modifying Another Word

  • heavily: Many debts continue from the 1970s and 1980s, when countries borrowed heavily.

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • up: First Plus will uniquely allow you to borrow up to 125 % of the value of your home, less the current mortgage.

Infinitive complement

  • invest: First, public enterprises are prevented from borrowing to invest and from developing the enterprise culture that the government values.

Preposition: in

  • currency: Under the ECS, Local Authorities and Public Corporations borrowed in foreign currency and sold the foreign currency to the EEA for sterling.

Preposition: from

  • library: Books may be borrowed from the library for private study.
borrow usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

borrow quotes

Acquaintance, n. A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to.

-Bierce, Ambrose Gwinett

Great poetsseldommake bricks without straw.They pile up allthe excellencestheycanbeg, borrow, or steal from their predecessors and contemporaries and then set their own inimitable light atop the mountain.

-Pound, Ezra Loomis

borrow quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"borrow." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/borrow>

APA Style

borrow. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/borrow

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