- 1 [transitive] to take and use something that belongs to somebody else, and return it to them at a later time borrow something Can I borrow your umbrella? borrow something from somebody/something Members can borrow up to ten books from the library at any one time. borrow something off somebody (British English, informal) I borrowed the DVD off my brother. compare lend Which Word?borrow / lend These two words are often confused. You borrow something from someone else, while they lend it to you:Can I borrow your pen? Can I borrow a pen from you? Here, I’ll lend you my pen. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbheavily prepositionfrom, off See full entry
- 2 [transitive, intransitive] to take money from a person or bank and agree to pay it back to them at a later time borrow something (from somebody/something) How much did you have to borrow to pay for this? She borrowed £2 000 from her parents. borrow (from somebody/something) I don't like to borrow from friends. borrow something off somebody (informal) I had to borrow the money off a friend. compare lend Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbheavily prepositionfrom, off See full entry See related entries: Buying a home, Banking
- 3[intransitive, transitive] to take words, ideas, etc. from another language, person, etc. and use them, as your own borrow (from somebody/something) The author borrows heavily from Henry James. borrow something (from somebody/something) Some musical terms are borrowed from Italian. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbfreely prepositionfrom See full entry Word OriginOld English borgian ‘borrow against security’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German borgen.Extra examples His designs borrow freely from the architecture of ancient Egypt. I borrowed £50 off my mum. I’ll borrow some coffee off the neighbours. She borrowed £50 from her mother. Can I borrow your pen? I don’t like to borrow from friends. I’m borrowing the office laptop for the weekend. You can borrow the book from the local library.Idioms
- 1to still be alive after the time when you were expected to die He’s been living on borrowed time ever since his last heart attack.
- 2to be doing something that other people are likely to soon stop you from doing According to the latest opinion polls, the government is living on borrowed time.
verb jump to other results
BrE BrE//ˈbɒrəʊ//; NAmE NAmE//ˈbɑːroʊ//, NAmE//ˈbɔːroʊ//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they borrow BrE BrE//ˈbɒrəʊ//; NAmE NAmE//ˈbɑːroʊ//, NAmE//ˈbɔːroʊ//
he / she / it borrows BrE BrE//ˈbɒrəʊz//; NAmE NAmE//ˈbɑːroʊz//, NAmE//ˈbɔːroʊz//
past simple borrowed BrE BrE//ˈbɒrəʊd//; NAmE NAmE//ˈbɑːroʊd//, NAmE//ˈbɔːroʊd//
past participle borrowed BrE BrE//ˈbɒrəʊd//; NAmE NAmE//ˈbɑːroʊd//, NAmE//ˈbɔːroʊd//
-ing form borrowing BrE BrE//ˈbɒrəʊɪŋ//; NAmE NAmE//ˈbɑːroʊɪŋ//, NAmE//ˈbɔːroʊɪŋ//
Buying a home, BankingCheck pronunciation: borrow
