WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Bor"row
Part of Speech : v.
Etymology : [OE. borwen, AS. borgian, fr. borg, borh, pledge; akin to D. borg, G. borg; prob. fr. root of AS. beorgan to protect. Borough.]
Definition : 1. To receive from another as a loan, with the implied or expressed intention of returning the identical article or its equivalent in kind; -- the opposite of lend.

2. (Arith.)

Defn: To take (one or more) from the next higher denomination in order to add it to the next lower; -- a term of subtraction when the figure of the subtrahend is larger than the corresponding one of the minuend.

3. To copy or imitate; to adopt; as, to borrow the style, manner, or opinions of another. Rites borrowed from the ancients. Macaulay. It is not hard for any man, who hath a Bible in his hands, to borrow good words and holy sayings in abundance; but to make them his own is a work of grace only from above. Milton.

4. To feign or counterfeit. "Borrowed hair." Spenser. The borrowed majesty of England. Shak.

5. To receive; to take; to derive. Any drop thou borrowedst from thy mother. Shak. To borrow trouble, to be needlessly troubled; to be overapprehensive.

t. [imp. & p. p. Borrowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Borrowing.]
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

Pronunciation : Bor"row
Part of Speech : n.
Definition : 1. Something deposited as security; a pledge; a surety; a hostage. [Obs.] Ye may retain as borrows my two priests. Sir W. Scott.

2. The act of borrowing. [Obs.] Of your royal presence I'll adventure The borrow of a week. Shak.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913