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beg

verb
/ˈbɛɡ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English beggen, of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old English *becgian, *bedcian, syncopated forms of bedecian (“to beg”), itself of obscure origin. Possibly from Proto-West Germanic *bedukōn, a frequentative verb derived from Proto-West Germanic *bedu (“plea, petition, prayer”, whence English bead). Alternatively from Proto-West Germanic *bedagō (“petitioner, requester, beggar”), an agent noun from the same source. Compare North Frisian bēdagi (“to pray”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍅𐌰 (bidagwa, “beggar”). All ultimately from the root of English bid, which see for more. An alternative theory considers the verb a backformation from beggar and derives the latter from Old French begart (“kind of lay brother”).

  1. derived from begart — “kind of lay brother”
  2. derived from *bedagō✻ — “petitioner, requester, beggar”
  3. derived from *bedu✻
  4. inherited from *bedukōn✻
  5. inherited from beggen

Definitions

  1. To request the help of someone, often in the form of money.

    • He begged on the street corner from passers-by.

  2. To plead with someone for help, a favor, etc.

    To plead with someone for help, a favor, etc.; to entreat.

    • I beg your pardon. I didn’t mean to cause offence.
    • He begged her to go to the prom with him.
    • you do beg your good will in this case.

  3. To unwillingly provoke a negative, often violent, reaction.

    • The way you keep eating raw meat, you're just begging to get tapeworms.
  4. ›+ 8 more definitions

    1. To obviously lack or be in need of something.

      • A captivating novel that just begs for a movie adaptation
      • The colors in this cell are as dull as its architects must have been. An endless expanse of drab-green textured walls, contrasting with the gray concrete floor. It begs redecoration.

    2. In the phrase beg the question

      In the phrase beg the question: to assume.

    3. To ask to be appointed guardian for, or to ask to have a guardian appointed for.

      • Else some will beg thee, in the court of wards.

    4. The act of begging

      The act of begging; an imploring request.

      • “Lord,” I prayed, “it's a long time since I came to You for anything besides a quick beg for help. And it seems every time I come to You I'm asking something bigger, more impossible. But I'm here again. […]

    5. A pretentious, attention-seeking, or eccentric individual.

      • Girls told me about not wanting to be seen by boys as "too much", "too loud", "weird", "annoying", a "pick me", or "a beg" (someone looking for attention). They told me how boys can be loud and funny, but that girls had better not.

    6. Alternative form of bey.

      • Yaqub Beg (c. 1820 – 1877)

    7. Abbreviation of beginning.

      • Knit with MC until work measures 3 inches from beg.

    8. A surname from Hindi.

The neighborhood

Derived

begathon, beg button, beg for mercy, beg for one's life, beg for someone's life, beggable, beg off, begpacker, begpacking, beg parding, beg pardon, beg someone's pardon, beg the question, beg to differ, begware, beg yours, bleg, go begging, good voice to beg bacon, I beg your pardon, outbeg, sit-up-and-beg, soft begging, unbegged

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at beg. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01beg02reaction03stimulus04incentive05inciting06incite07entreat08begging

A definitional loop anchored at beg. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at beg

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA