Begging

//ˈbɛɡɪŋ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of one who begs.

    "The Brahmans were very annoying in their beggings for money […]"

  2. 2
    a solicitation for money or food (especially in the street by an apparently penniless person) wordnet
  3. 3
    Money or goods acquired by begging. in-plural

    "Then a thin old hag […] moaned out, "Twopence for two ounces!" and had to go out of the shop unmeated, since her earnings — or her beggings — had not brought her enough to have that small price to spare."

Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of beg form-of, gerund, participle, present

Synonyms

All synonyms
beggaryadjuratoryappealingbeggarybeseechingbumming

Example

More examples

"Just like I thought, the contractor came back today, begging for more time."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English begging, beggyng, beggynge, equivalent to beg + -ing (gerund ending).

Etymology 2

From Middle English beggin, beggyn, beggyng, (also beggand), present participle of beggen (“to beg”), equivalent to beg + -ing (participle ending).

Related phrases

begging bowlbegging letterbegging the questione-begginggo beggingsoft begging

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.