beggar

beggar
beggarhood, n.
/beg"euhr/, n.
1. a person who begs alms or lives by begging.
2. a penniless person.
3. a wretched fellow; rogue: the surly beggar who collects the rents.
4. a child or youngster (usually prec. by little): a sudden urge to hug the little beggar.
v.t.
5. to reduce to utter poverty; impoverish: The family had been beggared by the war.
6. to cause one's resources of or ability for (description, comparison, etc.) to seem poor or inadequate: The costume beggars description.
[1175-1225; ME beggare, beggere. See BEG1, -ER1, -AR3]

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • beggar — ► NOUN 1) a person who lives by begging for food or money. 2) informal a person of a specified type: lucky beggar! ► VERB ▪ reduce to poverty. ● beggar belief (or description) Cf. ↑beggar description ● …   English terms dictionary

  • beggar — [n1] person asking for charity asker, borrower, bum, deadbeat, hobo, mendicant, panhandler, rustler, scrounger, supplicant, supplicator, tramp, vagabond; concepts 412,423 beggar [n2] person in financial trouble alms person, bankrupt, dependent,… …   New thesaurus

  • beggar — [beg′ər] n. [ME beggere < OFr begard: see BEG] 1. a person who begs, or asks for charity, esp. one who lives by begging; mendicant 2. a person who is very poor; pauper 3. Chiefly Brit. a person; fellow: often used jokingly or affectionately vt …   English World dictionary

  • Beggar — Beg gar, n. [OE. beggere, fr. beg.] 1. One who begs; one who asks or entreats earnestly, or with humility; a petitioner. [1913 Webster] 2. One who makes it his business to ask alms. [1913 Webster] 3. One who is dependent upon others for support;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Beggar — 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. [1913 Webster] 2. To cause to seem very poor and inadequate. [1913 Webster] It beggared all… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • beggar — index deplete, parasite Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • beggar — I UK [ˈbeɡə(r)] / US [ˈbeɡər] noun [countable] Word forms beggar : singular beggar plural beggars someone who is very poor and lives by asking people for money or food • lucky/lazy/cheeky etc beggar British spoken used in a friendly way for… …   English dictionary

  • beggar —    This is unlikely to have its literal meaning of one who begs when used vocatively. ‘Lucky beggar!’ said to a friend simply means lucky person. ‘You little beggar’ addressed to a child is similar to ‘you little horror’ or ‘you little terror’.… …   A dictionary of epithets and terms of address

  • beggar — beg|gar1 [ˈbegə US ər] n 1.) someone who lives by asking people for food and money ▪ the beggars on the streets 2.) lucky/lazy/cheeky etc beggar BrE spoken used when speaking to or about someone you like ▪ How s Dave? The lucky beggar s in the… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • beggar — {{11}}beggar (n.) c.1200, from O.Fr. begart, originally a member of the Beghards, lay brothers of mendicants in the Low Countries, from M.Du. beggaert mendicant, of uncertain origin, with pejorative suffix (see ARD (Cf. ard)). Cf. BEGUINE (Cf.… …   Etymology dictionary

  • beggar — 1 noun (C) 1 someone who lives by asking people for food and money: There s been a huge increase in the number of beggars on London s streets. 2 lucky/lazy/cheeky etc beggar BrE spoken used to describe someone who you think is lucky, lazy etc, in …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

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