BEGGAR

beggar, mendicant

(noun) a pauper who lives by begging

beggar, pauperize, pauperise

(verb) reduce to beggary

beggar

(verb) be beyond the resources of; “This beggars description!”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

beggar (plural beggars)

A person who begs.

A person suffering from extreme poverty.

(colloquial, sometimes, affectionate) A mean or wretched person; a scoundrel.

In the UK, a minced oath for bugger.

Synonyms

• (who begs): mendicant, panhandler, schnorrer, spanger, truant, see also beggar

• (extremely poor person): palliard, pauper, vagabond, see also pauper

Verb

beggar (third-person singular simple present beggars, present participle beggaring, simple past and past participle beggared)

(transitive) To make a beggar of someone; impoverish.

(transitive) To exhaust the resources of; to outdo.

Synonyms

• ruin

Anagrams

• bagger

Source: Wiktionary


Beg"gar, n. Etym: [OE. beggere, fr. beg.]

1. One who begs; one who asks or entreats earnestly, or with humility; a petitioner.

2. One who makes it his business to ask alms.

3. One who is dependent upon others for support; -- a contemptuous or sarcastic use.

4. One who assumes in argument what he does not prove. Abp. Tillotson.

Beg"gar, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Beggared; p. pr. & vb. n. Beggaring.]

1. To reduce to beggary; to impoverish; as, he had beggared himself. Milton.

2. To cause to seem very poor and inadequate. It beggared all description. Shak.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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