Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Begging |
BeggingNoun1. A solicitation for money or food (especially in the street by an apparently penniless person). Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "begging" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references) |
Synonyms: BeggingSynonyms: beggary (n), mendicancy (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Freedom | Unclaimed, going a begging. |
Inutility | Verb: be useless; Adjective:; go a begging; (redundant); fail. |
Offer | Offer oneself, present oneself; volunteer, come forward, be a candidate; stand for, bid for; seek; be at one's service; go a begging; bribe; (give). |
Redundancy | Exaggerate; wallow in roll in; (plenty) remain on one's hands, hang heavy on hand, go a begging. |
Request | Noun: request, requisition; claim; (demand); suit, prayer; begging letter, round robin. |
Mendicancy; asking, begging; Verb: postulation, solicitation, invitation, entreaty, importunity, supplication, instance, | |
Beg from door to door, send the hat round, go a begging; mendicate, mump, cadge, beg one's bread. | |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Begging |
| English words defined with "begging": beggar, beseeching ♦ Lazzaroni ♦ mendicant, Mendication, Mendicity, Mendinant, Mumper ♦ Outbeg ♦ petitio, petitio principii, Petitionarily, Prog ♦ To speak for Buncombe. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "begging": Amparo de Pobres, ANGLING FOR FARTHINGS ♦ Beg the Question, Begging Hermits, Begging the Question ♦ Chaneph ♦ Fly a Kite, Franciscans ♦ GLIMMERERS ♦ Jack o' the Clock ♦ MAUNDING, Mumping Day ♦ SOLDIER'S MAWND, Soul Cakes, sycophant. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "begging": Precarious. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Women and children, begging for bread (Doctor Zhivago; writing credit: Boris Pasternak; Robert Bolt) No begging for food, no sniffing of crotches, and you will not drink from my toilet (Turner & Hooch; writing credit: Dennis Shryack; Michael Blodgett) Begging your pardon in advance (The Great Jasper; writing credit: H.W. Hanemann; Samuel Ornitz) Come on, I'm begging, ok (Life as a House; writing credit: Mark Andrus) Stop begging, you look like a dog. (Enough; writing credit: Nicholas Kazan) | |
Lyrics | Then I'm begging you (Crash Into Me; performing artist: Dave Matthews Band) Once I'm begging you save her little soul (Golden Years; performing artist: DAVID BOWIE) Now you're here and begging for a chance (Special; performing artist: Garbage) HEY GIRL HE'S BEGGING (If It Isn't Love; performing artist: New Edition) I was begging you (TOUCH ME (I WANT YOUR BODY); performing artist: Samantha Fox) | |
Clever | 1968: Parents begging you to get your hair cut. 1998: Children begging you to get their heads shaved. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Begging Game (1995) Begging for Bondage (1992) The Begging Swordsman (1984) Begging the Ring (1979) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Brownie begging for food from NOAA hydrographic launch at Wide Bay Brownie was a regular visitor for lunch. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | On his knees again : Agamemnon begging Achilles for help in the fray. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Old man on park bench and begging dog. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Dog in hat, ruff, and pipe in mouth, begging. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Tramp begging food. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |
| "The Red Truck" by Christie Ortiz Commentary: "An older truck that like the red door was begging to be photographed." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Play | Caption |
 | Dog; whine; whining; begging; beg; bad dog; . |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Doris Lessing | Borrowing is not much better than begging; just as lending with interest is not much better than stealing. |
Martin Luther | Superstition, idolatry and hypocrisy have ample wages, but the truth goes begging. |
Miguel De Cervantes | Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn. |
Oscar Wilde | As for begging, it is safer to beg than to take, but it is finer to take than to beg. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | These good old dames were addicted to begging. |
King Richard III | Shakespeare, William | A begging prince what beggar pities not |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | And under the begging, and under the cringing, a hopeless anger began to smolder |
Gulliver's Travels | Swift, Jonathan | I made him a small present, for my lord had furnished me with money on purpose, because he knew their practice of begging from all who go to see them |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Children | Yemen | Some persons with disabilities are reduced to begging to support themselves. (references) |
Morocco | Typically, their families support persons with disabilities; some survive by begging. (references) | |
Philippines | Many street children appear to be abandoned children engaged in scavenging or begging. (references) | |
Human Rights | Romania | NGO's reported that there was no evidence that the Roma detained were begging. (references) |
Indigenous People | Venezuela | Members of the Warao indigenous group of Delta Amacuro state continued to migrate during the year from their homelands in the swampy Orinoco delta to Caracas, where they live in the streets, selling handicrafts and begging. (references) |
Minorities | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Conditions for some are extremely poor, and many rely on begging to exist. (references) |
Political Economy | COLOMBIA | Child labor in urban centers typically involves very young children selling sweets on the streets or simply begging. (references) |
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO | There is no organized exploitation of child labor, but children are often seen begging or working as street vendors. (references) | |
Women | Afghanistan | Many women reportedly were reduced to selling all of their possessions and to begging to feed their families. (references) |
Worker Rights | Gambia | There were a few instances of child street begging. (references) |
Thailand | Also, begging gangs in Bangkok use very young children. (references) | |
Albania | Children, including boys, also were trafficked for begging. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | SYCOPHANT, n. One who approaches Greatness on his belly so that he may not be commanded to turn and be kicked. He is sometimes an editor. As the lean leech, its victim found, is pleased To fix itself upon a part diseased Till, its black hide distended with bad blood, It drops to die of surfeit in the mud, So the base sycophant with joy descries His neighbor's weak spot and his mouth applies, Gorges and prospers like the leech, although, Unlike that reptile, he will not let go. Gelasma, if it paid you to devote Your talent to the service of a goat, Showing by forceful logic that its beard Is more than Aaron's fit to be revered; If to the task of honoring its smell Profit had prompted you, and love as well, The world would benefit at last by you And wealthy malefactors weep anew -- Your favor for a moment's space denied And to the nobler object turned aside. Is't not enough that thrifty millionaires Who loot in freight and spoliate in fares, Or, cursed with consciences that bid them fly To safer villainies of darker dye, Forswearing robbery and fain, instead, To steal (they call it "cornering") our bread May see you groveling their boots to lick And begging for the favor of a kick? Still must you follow to the bitter end Your sycophantic disposition's trend, And in your eagerness to please the rich Hunt hungry sinners to their final ditch? In Morgan's praise you smite the sounding wire, And sing hosannas to great Havemeyher! What's Satan done that him you should eschew? He too is reeking rich -- deducting you. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Matthew Perry | Well, the key was that I didn't care. I had to not care. I had my family and some friends around who were begging me to do this, to make this choice. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Begging" is generally used as a lexical verb (-ing form) -- approximately 92.39% of the time. "Begging" is used about 394 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (-ing form) | 92.39% | 364 | 14,842 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 5.58% | 22 | 74,468 |
| Noun (singular) | 1.52% | 6 | 143,867 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.51% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 394 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "begging": begging friar ♦ begging letter ♦ begging the question ♦ get by begging ♦ go a begging ♦ go begging ♦ going a begging ♦ it's going begging ♦ live by begging. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "begging": begging-bowls, Begging-letter. | |
Ending with "begging": question-begging. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
begging | 110 | begging site | 5 |
begging cyber | 93 | begging dog | 5 |
begging online | 31 | begging e | 4 |
begging the question | 17 | anorexia begging internet nervosa | 4 |
begging internet | 16 | begging sex | 3 |
begging for money | 15 | begging woman | 2 |
begging cum | 8 | begging creditor letter relief | 2 |
begging fallacy question | 8 | begging cyber tutorial | 2 |
begging site web | 6 | begging cyber site web | 2 |
begging cock | 6 | begging line | 2 |
begging web | 2 | ||
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "begging"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | bedelry, bedelary. (various references) | |
Albanian | nxjerrje me të lutura, lypje lëmoshe, lutës (beseeching, deprecatory, imploring, petitioner, pleading, praying, precatory, suppliant, supplicant, supplicating, supplicatory). (various references) | |
Arabic | متوسل (entreating, imploring, supplicating), تسول (beggary, cadge, mendicity, panhandle, put out, tramp), شحاذة. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | просене (mendicancy), просия (mendicancy, mendicity). (various references) | |
Chinese | 乞求 (BEG, Begged). (various references) | |
Czech | žebrání. (various references) | |
Dutch | bedelarý, schooierý, gebedel. (various references) | |
Esperanto | almozpetado. (various references) | |
Finnish | kerjuu. (various references) | |
French | suppliant, mendicité (beggary), mendiante, mendiant (beggar). (various references) | |
Frisian | bidlerij. (various references) | |
German | bittend (appealingly, appellative, pleading), bettelnd (mendicant). (various references) | |
Greek | ικετευτικός. (various references) | |
Hebrew | קבוץ נדבות, פשיטת יד. (various references) | |
Hungarian | könyörgés (deprecation, entreaty, imploring, invocation, obsecration, petition, prayer, rogation, supplication). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 物乞い (beggar), 乞食 (beggar), ちり取り (chink, dustpan, jingle, penis, tart, tinkle, whistle). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | こつじき (beggar), こじき (beggar, Japan's Ancient Chronicle), ものごい (beggar), ちんちん (chink, jingle, penis, tinkle, whistle). (various references) | |
Korean | 구걸. (various references) | |
Manx | shirrey jeirk (beg, cadge, panhandle), goll er ny dhieyn. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | eggingbay.(various references) | |
Romanian | milogealã, cerşetorie (cadging, mendicancy), cãpãtat. (various references) | |
Russian | выпрашивание, нищенство (beggary, mendicancy, mendicity). (various references) | |
Scottish | faoighe, faighdhe, faighe. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | prosjačenje (beggary, mendicancy), prošnja (beggary). (various references) | |
Spanish | mendicidad (beggary, mendicancy, mendicity). (various references) | |
Swedish | tiggeri (mendicancy), tiggande. (various references) | |
Turkish | yalvarma (adjuration, appeal, conjuration, cry, entreaty, invocation, plea, pleading, prayer, praying, supplication), dilenme. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | випрошування, жебручий (mendicant), жебрацтво (beggarism, cadge, mendicancy, mendicity, panhandle), безкорисний (good for nothing, profitless), благаючий (deprecatory, imploring), пустий (addle, airy, bald, bare, barren, baseless, chaffy, empty, frothy, otiose, sounding, vacant, vacuous, vain, void, yeasty). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Sumerian | 3100 BCE-2500 BCE | dim. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | deprecabilis, supplices, supplicia, supplicium. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Luke Chapter 18, Verse 35 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Egeneto de en tw eggizein auton eiV iericw tufloV tiV ekaqhto para thn odon prosaitwn |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Factum est autem cum adpropinquaret Hiericho caecus quidam sedebat secus viam mendicans |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | þa he genealæhte hiericho: sum blind man sæt wið þæne weg wædligende: |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | But it was don, whanne Jhesus cam nyy to Jerico, a blynde man sat bisidis the weie, and beggide. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | And it came to passe as he was come nye vnto Hierico a certayne blynde man sate by the waye syde begginge. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And it came to pass, that as he had come nigh to Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging; |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | And it came about that when he got near Jericho, a certain blind man was seated by the side of the road, making requests for money from those who went by. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Luke Chapter 18, Verse 35 |
| Cebuano | ¶ Ug sa nagkahiduol siya sa Jerico, diha sa daplin sa dalan naglingkod ang usa ka buta nga nagpakilimos; |
| Chinese | 耶 穌 將 近 耶 利 哥 的 時 候 、 有 一 個 瞎 子 坐 在 路 旁 討 飯 。 |
| Croatian | A kad se približavao Jerihonu, neki slijepac sjedio kraj puta i prosio. |
| Danish | Men det skete, da han nærmede sig til Jeriko, sad der en blind ved Vejen og tiggede. |
| Dutch | En het geschiedde, als Hij nabij Jericho kwam, dat een zeker blinde aan den weg zat, bedelende. |
| Finnish | Ja hänen lähestyessään Jerikoa eräs sokea istui tien vieressä kerjäten. |
| French | Comme Jésus approchait de Jéricho, un aveugle était assis au bord du chemin, et mendiait. |
| German | Es geschah aber, da er nahe an Jericho kam, saß ein Blinder am Wege und bettelte. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Waktu Yesus hampir sampai di Yerikho, seorang buta sedang duduk minta-minta di pinggir jalan. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Tatkala Ia datang dekat Yerikho, adalah seorang buta duduk di tepi jalan meminta sedekah. |
| Italian | Mentre si avvicinava a Gerico, un cieco era seduto a mendicare lungo la strada. |
| Maori | ¶ A, i a ia e whakatata ana ki Heriko, tera tetahi matapo e noho ana i te taha o te huarahi e tono mea ana mana: |
| Norwegian | Og det skjedde da han kom nær til Jeriko, at en blind mann satt ved veien og tigget. |
| Rumanian | Pe cknd Se apropia Isus de Ierihon, un orb wedea lkngq drum wi cerwea. |
| Shuar | ¶ Jesus Jirikiú péprunam nuntumsai, nui aishman jii kusuru, Kuítian surusarat tusa Jintiá pujumiayi. |
| Swahili | Wakati Yesu alipokaribia Yeriko, kulikuwa na mtu mmoja kipofu ameketi njiani akiomba. |
| Swedish | Då han nu nalkades Jeriko, hände sig att en blind man satt vid vägen och tiggde. |
| Uma | ¶ Mohu' -mi Yesus hi ngata Yerikho, ria hadua tauna to wero mohura hi wiwi' ohea karapi' -rapi'. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words ending with "begging": outbegging. (additional references) | |
| |
"Begging" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: baggin, baggings, Bagnigge, Bagong, Beggen, beggin, begina, begine, begint, beiging, kegging. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "begging" (pronounced be"ging) |
| 4 | -e" g i ng | legging, pegging. |
| 3 | -g i ng | bagging, binging, bogging, bootlegging, bragging, bugging, cataloging, cataloguing, chugging, clogging, debugging, demagoguing, digging, dogging, dragging, drugging, fatiguing, flagging, flogging, gigging, hogging, hugging, intriguing, jitterbugging, jogging, lagging, leapfrogging, logging, lugging, mugging, nagging, plaguing, plugging, reneging, rigging, sagging, sandbagging, shrugging, slogging, slugging, snagging, snugging, tagging, tugging, unflagging, wagging, zigzagging. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "b-e-g-g-g-i-n" | |
-1 letter: egging. | |
-2 letters: begin, being, binge. | |
-3 letters: bine, gibe, gien. | |
-4 letters: beg, ben, big, bin, egg, eng, gen, gib, gie, gig, gin, neb, nib. | |
-5 letters: be, bi, en, in, ne. | |
| Words containing the letters "b-e-g-g-g-i-n" | |
+2 letters: befogging, beggaring, bewigging, buggering, debugging. | |
+3 letters: beclogging, bedrugging, beflagging, begrudging, outbegging. | |
+4 letters: bedraggling, bootlegging. | |
+5 letters: begrudgingly. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Sounds 10. Quotations: Familiar 11. Quotations: Fiction 12. Quotations: Non-fiction | 13. Quotations: Spoken 14. Usage Frequency 15. Expressions 16. Expressions: Internet | 17. Translations: Modern 18. Translations: Ancient 19. Bible Trace 20. Derivations | 21. Rhymes 22. Anagrams 23. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
