Meanings
beg1
present singular third person begs · participle present begging · participle past begged · past begged
- transitiveTo plead with someone for help, a favor, etc.; to entreat.
He begged her to go to the prom with him.
4 more examples
I beg your pardon. I didn’t mean to cause offence.
you do beg your good will in this case.
c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii][Joseph] begged the body of Jesus.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 27:58But that same day came Sam Tewkesbury to the Why Not? about nightfall, and begged a glass of rum, being, as he said, 'all of a shake' [...]
[1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLCSynonyms: supplicate
- transitiveTo unwillingly provoke a negative, often violent, reaction.
The way you keep eating raw meat, you're just begging to get tapeworms.
1 more example
Madness! So quick to beg for oblivion's embrace.
2023 December 18, “Galactus VS Unicron (Marvel Comics VS Transformers)” (14:46 from the start), in DEATH BATTLE!, season 10, episode 16, spoken by Galactus (Wolf Williams) - intransitivetransitiveTo obviously lack or be in need of something.
A captivating novel that just begs for a movie adaptation
1 more example
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.
1985 April 13, Philip Brasfield, “Echoes Inside of What's Outside”, in Gay Community News, page 4 - transitiveIn the phrase beg the question: to assume.
- obsoletetransitivelawTo 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.
a. 1612, John Harington, Epigrams
plural begs
- 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. […]
2008, Cathy Gohlke, William Henry is a Fine Name/I Have Seen Him in the Watchfires Set - UKderogatoryslangA pretentious, attention-seeking, or eccentric person.
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.
2026 April 13, Catherine Carr, "The surprising reality of how teenage girls still define themselves" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62je1g000eo (BBC News)
beg2
beg3
- abbreviationbusinessAbbreviation of beginning.
Knit with MC until work measures 3 inches from beg.
2005, DRG Dynamic Resource, Big Book of Knit Hats & Scarves for Everyone, House of White Birches, page 34
Beg4
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo plead with someone for help, a favor, etc.; to entreat.
verbIn the phrase beg the question: to raise (a question).
More synonyms by meaning
verbmake a solicitation or entreaty for something; request urgently or persistently
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
beg · verb, noun
- Old Frenchbegart“kind of lay brother”
- Proto-West Germanic*bedagō“petitioner, requester, beggar”
- Proto-West Germanic*bedu
- Proto-West Germanic*bedukōn
- Old English*becgian, *bedcian
- Middle Englishbeggen
- Englishbeg
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”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →beg · noun
- Proto-Turkic*bēg
- Englishbeg
From Proto-Turkic *bēg.
More words from Proto-Turkic
Full word history & related roots →Beg · proper noun
- SloveneBeg
- Hindiबेग
- EnglishBeg
Various origins: * As an Islamic (Indian subcontinent as Hindi बेग (beg)) and sometimes Serbo-Croatian surname, from the Turkish title beg, an older form of bey. See Bey; also compare Baig. * Borrowed from Slovene Beg, from beg (“escape, getaway”).
More words from Hindi, Slovene
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans bedel
- bedelto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
Ancient Greek ἱκετεύω, δέω
- ἱκετεύω (hiketeúō)to plead with someone for help
- δέω (déō)to plead with someone for help
Arabic اِسْتَجْدَى, تَسَوَّلَ
- اِسْتَجْدَى (istajdā)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- تَسَوَّلَ (tasawwala)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- تَسَوَّلَ (tasawwala)to plead with someone for help
- رَجَا (rajā)to plead with someone for help
- بيك (bēg)title — see also bey
Bengali বেগ
- বেগ (beg)title — see also bey
Bulgarian про́ся, изпро́свам
- про́ся (prósja)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- изпро́свам (izprósvam)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- изпро́ся (izprósja)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- мо́ля (mólja)to plead with someone for help
- умоля́вам (umoljávam)to plead with someone for help
- бег (beg)title — see also bey
Catalan pidolar, mendicar
- pidolarto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- mendicarto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- suplicarto plead with someone for help
- pregarto plead with someone for help
Chinese Mandarin 央求, 求
- 央求 (yāngqiú)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- 求 (qiú)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- 乞討 /乞讨 (qǐtǎo)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- 央求 (yāngqiú)to plead with someone for help
- 求 (qiú)to plead with someone for help
Czech žebrat, prosit
- žebratto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- prositto plead with someone for help
Danish tigge, bede
- tiggeto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- bedeto plead with someone for help
- bønfaldeto plead with someone for help
Dutch bedelen, smeken
- bedelento request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- smekento plead with someone for help
Esperanto almozpeti, petegi
- almozpetito request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- petegito plead with someone for help
Finnish kerjätä, pyytää
- kerjätäto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- pyytääto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- anellato request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- anoato request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- kärttääto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- kerjätäto plead with someone for help
- pyytääto plead with someone for help
- anellato plead with someone for help
- anoato plead with someone for help
- kärttääto plead with someone for help
- begtitle — see also bey
French mendier, quêter
- mendierto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- quêterto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- quémanderto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- implorerto plead with someone for help
- supplierto plead with someone for help
German betteln, anflehen
- bettelnto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- anflehento plead with someone for help
- bittento plead with someone for help
Greek ζητιανεύω, επαιτώ
- ζητιανεύω (zitianévo)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- επαιτώ (epaitó)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- ικετεύω (iketévo)to plead with someone for help
Hebrew ביקש \ בִּקֵּשׁ, קיבץ נדבות
- ביקש \ בִּקֵּשׁ (bikésh)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- קיבץ נדבות (kibéts n'davót)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- הִתְחַנֵּן (hitkhanén)to plead with someone for help
Hindi भीख माँगना, बेग
- भीख माँगना (bhīkh māṅgnā)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- बेग (beg)title — see also bey
Hungarian koldul, kéreget
- koldulto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- kéregetto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- könyörögto plead with someone for help
- bégtitle — see also bey
Icelandic betla
- betlato request the help of someone, often in the form of money
Indonesian mengemis, minta-minta
- mengemisto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- minta-mintato request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- mintato plead with someone for help
- mohonto plead with someone for help
Italian mendicare, elemosinare
- mendicareto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- elemosinareto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- implorareto plead with someone for help
- pregareto plead with someone for help
Japanese 請う, 頼む
- 請う (kou)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- 頼む (tanomu)to plead with someone for help
- 拝み倒す (ogamitaosu)to plead with someone for help
Korean 부탁하다, 빌다
- 부탁하다 (butakhada)to plead with someone for help
- 빌다 (bilda)to plead with someone for help
- 탄원하다 (tanwonhada)to plead with someone for help
- 구걸하다 (gugeolhada)to plead with someone for help
- 간청하다 (gancheonghada)to plead with someone for help
- 애원하다 (aewonhada)to plead with someone for help
Latin mendīcor, rogo
- mendīcorto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- rogoto plead with someone for help
- obsecrōto plead with someone for help
Māori minene, pīnono
- mineneto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- pīnonoto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- pikonito request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- mīnonoto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
Norwegian Bokmål tigge
- tiggeto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
Persian بیگ
- بیگ (beyg)title — see also bey
Polish żebrać, błagać
- żebraćto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- błagaćto plead with someone for help
Portuguese mendigar, suplicar
- mendigarto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- suplicarto plead with someone for help
- implorarto plead with someone for help
Romanian cerși, ruga
- cerșito request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- rugato plead with someone for help
Russian проси́ть, попроси́ть
- проси́ть (prosítʹ)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- попроси́ть (poprosítʹ)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- попроша́йничать (poprošájničatʹ)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- побира́ться (pobirátʹsja)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- выпра́шивать (vyprášivatʹ)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- кля́нчить (kljánčitʹ)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- умоля́ть (umoljátʹ)to plead with someone for help
- моли́ть (molítʹ)to plead with someone for help
- проси́ть (prosítʹ)to plead with someone for help
Slovak žobrať, prosiť
- žobraťto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- prosiťto plead with someone for help
Spanish mendigar, pordiosear
- mendigarto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- pordiosearto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- suplicarto plead with someone for help
- rogarto plead with someone for help
- deprecarto plead with someone for help
Swedish tigga, be
- tiggato request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- beto plead with someone for help
- bönfallato plead with someone for help
Tagalog magpalimos
- magpalimosto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
Tamil கெஞ்சு, கெஞ்சு
- கெஞ்சு (keñcu)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- கெஞ்சு (keñcu)to plead with someone for help
Thai ขอทาน, ขอร้อง
- ขอทาน (kɔ̌ɔ-taan)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- ขอร้อง (kɔ̌ɔ-rɔ́ɔng)to plead with someone for help
Turkish yalvarmak, dilenmek
- yalvarmakto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- dilenmekto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- beytitle — see also bey
Ukrainian жебра́чити, же́брати
- жебра́чити (žebráčyty)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- же́брати (žébraty)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- проси́ти (prosýty)to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- блага́ти (blaháty)to plead with someone for help
- моли́ти (molýty)to plead with someone for help
- проси́ти (prosýty)to plead with someone for help
Urdu بیگ
- بیگ (beg)title — see also bey
Vietnamese ăn xin, khẩn cầu
- ăn xinto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- khẩn cầuto plead with someone for help
Welsh cardota, begio
- cardotato request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- begioto request the help of someone, often in the form of money
- deisyfto plead with someone for help
- pledioto plead with someone for help
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with beg
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
beg. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beg
“beg.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beg. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “beg,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beg.
Source: beg on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.