borrow

7 definitions • 17 examples

to get or receive something from someone with the intention of giving it back after a period of time:

borrow something from someone I had to borrow a pen from the invigilator to do the exam.

UK non-standard Can I borrow £100 off you until next week?

She used to borrow money and not bother to pay it back.

borrow something from something He borrowed a novel from the library.

to take money from a bank or other financial organization and pay it back over a period of time:

borrow heavily Like so many companies at that time, we had to borrow heavily to survive.

borrow something from something We could always borrow some money from the bank.

to take and use a word or idea from another language or piece of work:

borrow something from something English has borrowed many words from French.

borrow heavily from She has created new string sounds that borrow heavily from folk and jazz.

to put a number into a different column when doing subtraction

to take something from someone with the intention of giving it back after using it:

[ T ] Could I borrow your bike until next week?

[ T ] fig. We constantly borrow words from other cultures.

to take money from a bank or other financial organization with the intention of paying it back over a period of time, usually with interest added on:

He will have to borrow £300 million to make his controversial takeover bid successful.

Find out how much you can afford to borrow before you decide to buy a house.

borrow from sth If you borrow from a credit card, the interest can be 20%.

borrow sth from sth This is a way of borrowing money from international financial markets.

Countries who had borrowed heavily to pay for oil imports were hit hard.

to ask someone to give you money for a period of time, after which you intend to give it back to them:

Can I borrow £20? I'll pay you back tomorrow.

borrow (sth) from sb He borrowed some money from a friend.