go begging

verb

To be available but wasted, unused, or not actualized.

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Meanings

verbgo begging (third-person singular simple present goes begging, present participle going begging, simple past went begging, past participle gone begging)

present singular third person goes begging · participle present going begging · past went begging · participle past gone begging · alternative go a-begging

  1. idiomaticTo be available but wasted, unused, or not actualized.

    "Principles without leaders go begging," he replied.

    1904, David Graham Phillips, chapter 18, in The Cost
    2 more examples

    As prosperity piles up the paperwork, the shortage becomes more severe; some 250000 secretarial jobs go begging every day.

    1957 April 8, “They're Either Too Pretty or Too Old”, in Time

    Three match points went begging as that potent first serve deserted her and even a magnificent backhand lob could not stop Bartoli making it 5-5, before going on to level the match in the tie-break.

    2011 June 28, Piers Newbery, “Wimbledon 2011: Sabine Lisicki beats Marion Bartoli”, in BBC Sport
Cite this entry
APA

go begging. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20begging

MLA

“go begging.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20begging. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “go begging,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20begging.

Source: go begging on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.