- borrow */*/
- UK [ˈbɒrəʊ] / US [ˈbɔroʊ]
verb
Word forms "borrow":
present tense I/you/we/they borrow he/she/it borrows present participle borrowing past tense borrowed past participle borrowedCollocations:If you borrow something, someone gives it to you and you agree to give it back: Please may I borrow your umbrella? ♦ He borrowed an umbrella from his friend. If you lend something, you give it to someone else and they agree to give it back to you: Could you lend me your umbrella? ♦ She lent me her umbrella.1) [transitive] to receive and use something that belongs to someone else, and promise to give it back to them laterborrow something from someone/something:Can I borrow your calculator?
I borrowed a camera from Alex.
a) [intransitive/transitive] to borrow money, especially from a bank, and agree to pay it back at a particular time. Money that you borrow is called a loanborrow heavily:We borrowed £20,000 to start up the business.
He'd borrowed heavily to pay for the car.
b) [transitive] to borrow books from a library and agree to take them back at a particular time2) [intransitive/transitive] to use an idea, method, phrase etc that was first used by another person or in another place or situationborrow something from someone/something:His speech was, to borrow a phrase from Shakespeare, "full of sound and fury".
borrow freely/heavily:English is full of words that have been borrowed from other languages.
His designs borrow freely from ancient Egyptian art.
•(living) on borrowed time
= be on borrowed time — likely to fail or die very soonThe government is living on borrowed time.
English dictionary. 2014.