borrow
verb /ˈbɒrəʊ/
/ˈbɔːrəʊ/
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they borrow | /ˈbɒrəʊ/ /ˈbɔːrəʊ/ |
| he / she / it borrows | /ˈbɒrəʊz/ /ˈbɔːrəʊz/ |
| past simple borrowed | /ˈbɒrəʊd/ /ˈbɔːrəʊd/ |
| past participle borrowed | /ˈbɒrəʊd/ /ˈbɔːrəʊd/ |
| -ing form borrowing | /ˈbɒrəʊɪŋ/ /ˈbɔːrəʊɪŋ/ |
- [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 tools I needed off my brother.
Which Word? borrow / lendborrow / 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.
Extra Examples- I'll borrow some coffee off the neighbours.
- I'm borrowing the office laptop for the weekend.
- You can borrow the book from the local library.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- heavily
- from
- off
- [transitive, intransitive] to take money from a person or bank and agree to pay it back to them at a later time
- borrow something How much did you have to borrow to pay for this?
- The goal is to borrow funds at a low interest rate.
- borrow something from somebody/something She borrowed £2 000 from her parents.
- borrow from somebody/something I don't like to borrow from friends.
- The company had borrowed heavily from state-owned banks.
- borrow something off somebody (informal) I had to borrow the money off a friend.
Extra ExamplesTopics Moneya2, Houses and homesa2- She borrowed £50 from her mother.
- I borrowed £50 off my mum.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- heavily
- from
- off
- [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.
- His designs borrow freely from the architecture of ancient Egypt.
- borrow something (from somebody/something) Some musical terms are borrowed from Italian.
- The villain was—to borrow a phrase from Alex—‘all bark and no bite’.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- freely
- from
Word OriginOld English borgian ‘borrow against security’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German borgen.
Idioms
be (living) on borrowed time
- to 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.
- to 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.