borrow from Peter to pay Paul

A form of rob Peter to pay Paul — To use resources that legitimately belong to or are needed by one party in order to satisfy a legitimate need of another party, especially within the same organization or group; to solve a problem in a way that makes another problem worse, producing no net gain.

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Meanings

verbborrow from Peter to pay Paul (third-person singular simple present borrows from Peter to pay Paul, present participle borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, simple past and past participle borrowed from Peter to pay Paul)

present singular third person borrows from Peter to pay Paul · participle present borrowing from Peter to pay Paul · participle past borrowed from Peter to pay Paul · past borrowed from Peter to pay Paul

  1. alternativeAlternative form of rob Peter to pay Paul.
Cite this entry
APA

borrow from Peter to pay Paul. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/borrow%20from%20Peter%20to%20pay%20Paul

MLA

“borrow from Peter to pay Paul.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/borrow%20from%20Peter%20to%20pay%20Paul. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “borrow from Peter to pay Paul,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/borrow%20from%20Peter%20to%20pay%20Paul.

Source: borrow from Peter to pay Paul on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.