beg. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

beg

PRONUNCIATION:	bg
VERB:	Inflected forms: begged, beg·ging, begs
TRANSITIVE VERB:	1. To ask for as charity: begged money while sitting in a doorway. 2. To ask earnestly for or of; entreat: begged me for help. 3a. To evade; dodge: a speech that begged the real issues. b. To take for granted without proof: beg the point in a dispute.
INTRANSITIVE VERB:	1. To solicit alms. 2. To make a humble or urgent plea.
PHRASAL VERB:	beg off To ask to be released from something, such as an obligation: We were invited to stay for dinner, but we had to beg off.
ETYMOLOGY:	Middle English beggen, possibly from Anglo-Norman begger, from Old French begart, lay brother, one who prays. See beggar.
SYNONYMS:	beg, crave, beseech, implore, entreat, importune These verbs mean to make an earnest request. Beg and crave mean to ask in a serious and sometimes humble manner, especially for something one cannot claim as a right: I begged her to forgive me. The attorney craved the court's indulgence. Beseech emphasizes earnestness and often implies anxiety: Be silent, we beseech you. Implore intensifies the sense of urgency and anxiety: The child implored his father not to be angry. Entreat pertains to persuasive pleading: “Ask me no questions, I entreat you” (Charles Dickens). Importune adds the sense of persistent and sometimes irksome pleading: The foundation was importuned by fundraisers. See also synonyms at cadge.


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.