"borrow" meaning in English

See borrow in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

IPA: /ˈbɒrəʊ/ [UK], /ˈbɑroʊ/ [US] Audio: en-us-borrow.ogg [US] Forms: borrow [canonical], borrows [third-person, singular], borrowed [past], borrowed [past, participle], borrowing [present, participle]
enPR: /bŏrʹō/ [UK], bärʹō [US] Head templates: {{verb}} [POS TABLE]
  1. If you borrow something from someone, you use it and then you give it back to them.
    Sense id: simple-borrow-en-verb-0AKAwhZs
  2. If you borrow words or ideas from somebody, you use them in your own writing or speaking.
    Sense id: simple-borrow-en-verb-43nG6SmO
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "borrow",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "borrows",
      "tags": [
        "third-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "borrowed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "borrowed",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "borrowing",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Governments need to make it easier for students to borrow money for school."
        },
        {
          "text": "The company has also borrowed heavily from the Boston Federal Reserve Bank – some $1.6 billion last month alone."
        },
        {
          "text": "Can I borrow your car and show my dad I can drive?"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you borrow something from someone, you use it and then you give it back to them."
      ],
      "id": "simple-borrow-en-verb-0AKAwhZs",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive & intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Many people want to throw the war \"down the memory hole\", to borrow a phrase from Orwell's 1984."
        },
        {
          "text": "The choreographer borrowed a number from Swan Lake for his satirical ballet called Birds in Ballet."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you borrow words or ideas from somebody, you use them in your own writing or speaking."
      ],
      "id": "simple-borrow-en-verb-43nG6SmO",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive & intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "/bŏrʹō/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbɒrəʊ/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/\"bQr@U/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "enpr": "bärʹō",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbɑroʊ/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/\"bAroU/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-borrow.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "borrow"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "borrow",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "borrows",
      "tags": [
        "third-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "borrowed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "borrowed",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "borrowing",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Intransitive verbs",
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Governments need to make it easier for students to borrow money for school."
        },
        {
          "text": "The company has also borrowed heavily from the Boston Federal Reserve Bank – some $1.6 billion last month alone."
        },
        {
          "text": "Can I borrow your car and show my dad I can drive?"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you borrow something from someone, you use it and then you give it back to them."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive & intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Intransitive verbs",
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Many people want to throw the war \"down the memory hole\", to borrow a phrase from Orwell's 1984."
        },
        {
          "text": "The choreographer borrowed a number from Swan Lake for his satirical ballet called Birds in Ballet."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you borrow words or ideas from somebody, you use them in your own writing or speaking."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive & intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "/bŏrʹō/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbɒrəʊ/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/\"bQr@U/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "enpr": "bärʹō",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbɑroʊ/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/\"bAroU/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-borrow.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "borrow"
}

Download raw JSONL data for borrow meaning in English (1.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-04-16 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2025-04-03 using wiktextract (b0b7a66 and 3185d56). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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