bor ‧ row S2 W3 /ˈbɒrəʊ $ ˈbɑːroʊ, ˈbɔː-/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive and transitive]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: borgian ]
1 . to use something that belongs to someone else and that you must give back to them later ⇨ lend , loan :
Can I borrow your pen for a minute?
borrow something from somebody
You are allowed to borrow six books from the library at a time.
They borrowed heavily (=borrowed a lot of money) from the bank to start their new business.
► Do not confuse borrow and lend (=give someone permission to use something of yours) : I borrowed his bike. | Can you lend me your pen?
2 . to take or copy someone’s ideas, words etc and use them in your own work, language etc
borrow something from somebody/something
I borrowed my ideas from Eliot’s famous poem ‘The Waste Land’.
To borrow a phrase (=use what someone else has said) , if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
borrow from
English has borrowed words from many languages.
3 . borrow trouble American English informal to worry about something when it is not necessary
⇨ be living on borrowed time at ↑ live 1 (17), ⇨ beg, borrow, or steal at ↑ beg (8)