BEG (begged, begging)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: begged    , begging   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does beg mean? 

• BEG (verb)
  The verb BEG has 4 senses:

1. call upon in supplication; entreat

2. make a solicitation or entreaty for something; request urgently or persistently

3. ask to obtain free

4. dodge, avoid answering, or take for granted

  Familiarity information: BEG used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BEG (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they beg    ... he / she / it begs   
Past simple: begged   
Past participle: begged   
-ing form: begging   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Call upon in supplication; entreat

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

beg; implore; pray

Context example:

I beg you to stop!

Hypernyms (to "beg" is one way to...):

plead (appeal or request earnestly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "beg"):

crave (plead or ask for earnestly)

supplicate (ask humbly (for something))

importune; insist (beg persistently and urgently)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sentence examples:

They beg him to write the letter
They beg to move

Also:

beg off (ask for permission to be released from an engagement)

Derivation:

beggary (a solicitation for money or food (especially in the street by an apparently penniless person))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make a solicitation or entreaty for something; request urgently or persistently

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

beg; solicit; tap

Context example:

My neighbor keeps soliciting money for different charities

Hypernyms (to "beg" is one way to...):

ask for; bespeak; call for; quest; request (express the need or desire for)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "beg"):

quest (seek alms, as for religious purposes)

canvass (solicit votes from potential voters in an electoral campaign)

buttonhole; lobby (detain in conversation by or as if by holding on to the outer garments of; as for political or economic favors)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something from somebody

Derivation:

beggary (a solicitation for money or food (especially in the street by an apparently penniless person))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Ask to obtain free

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

beg money and food

Hypernyms (to "beg" is one way to...):

ask for; bespeak; call for; quest; request (express the need or desire for)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "beg"):

cadge; schnorr; scrounge; shnorr (obtain or seek to obtain by cadging or wheedling)

panhandle (beg by accosting people in the street and asking for money)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Derivation:

beggary (a solicitation for money or food (especially in the street by an apparently penniless person))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Dodge, avoid answering, or take for granted

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

beg the point in the discussion

Hypernyms (to "beg" is one way to...):

circumvent; dodge; duck; elude; evade; fudge; hedge; parry; put off; sidestep; skirt (avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

What place is this? How is the Ghost lying? How did you get wet? Where’s Maud? —I beg your pardon, Miss Brewster—or should I say, ‘Mrs. Van Weyden’?

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

But in time Dennin grew more tractable. It seemed to her that he was growing weary of his unchanging recumbent position. He began to beg and plead to be released.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

“It is quite a three pipe problem, and I beg that you won’t speak to me for fifty minutes.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We beg, with regard to the desire of your Lordship, expressed by Mr. Harker on your behalf, to supply the following information concerning the sale and purchase of No. 347, Piccadilly.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

To my surprise, she took it very seriously, and begged me if any more came to let her see them.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Charles and Hal begged her to get off and walk, pleaded with her, entreated, the while she wept and importuned Heaven with a recital of their brutality.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

In vain Meg begged him to stop.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

My mother bent her head, and begged her to walk in.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Then he lay quiet for a little, and then, pulling out a stick of tobacco, begged me to cut him a quid.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I do not wish to take any unfair advantage, and I beg therefore that you will take some days to consider of your determination.’

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)