borrow UK /ˈbɒɹəʊ/US /ˈbɑɹ.oʊ/verb 12noun 5forms 7phrases 1 verb12 •to get something from someone for a short time, planning to give it back •To receive money from a bank or other lender under the agreement that the lender will be paid back over time. •To temporarily obtain (something) for (someone).You must borrow me Garagantua's mouth first: 'tis a word too great for any mouth of this age's size: To say, ay, and no, to these particulars, is more than to answer in a catechism. — 1623 •To adopt (an idea) as one's own.to borrow the style, manner, or opinions of another •To adopt a word from another language.Americans, for example, call newcomers to Antarctica “fingies”, which comes from FNGs – a borrowed military abbreviation that means “Fucking New Guy”. — 2024 •(informal) To receive (something, usually of trifling value) from somebody, with little possibility of returning it.Can I borrow a sheet of paper? •(informal) To interrupt the current activity of (a person) and lead them away in order to speak with them, get their help, etc.John, can I borrow you for a second? I need your help with the copier. •In a subtraction, to deduct (one) from a digit of the minuend and add ten to the following digit, in order that the subtraction of a larger digit in the subtrahend from the digit in the minuend to which ten is added gives a positive result. •To secure the release of (someone) from prison. •To adjust one's aim in order to compensate for the slope of the green. •(Singapore, nonstandard) To lend.“Rosie, borrow me your look looker, I bet my lips are all. Everytime^([sic]) I eat or drink, so quick I gotta fix ’em, yet.” — 1951 •To feign or counterfeit. noun5 •Deviation of the path of a rolling ball from a straight line; slope; slant.This putt has a big left-to right borrow on it. •In Rust and some other programming languages, the situation where the ownership of a value is temporarily transferred to another region of code.If we currently have any borrows of a value, we can't mutably borrow it into self, nor can we move it (because that would invalidate the existing borrows). — 2018 •A borrow pit.As previously indicated, slurry used for construction of the slurry cutoff trench at Beaver Creek Dam was produced with natural clays and clay tills from local borrows. — 1979 •(no longer used) A ransom; a pledge or guarantee. •(no longer used) A surety; someone standing bail. formsborrow'd · borrowed · borrowedst · borrowing · borroweth · borrows · borrowest Phrases with borrow borrow troubleTo worry about future events not in one's control and that may not come to pass.
