1. To
ask earnestly for; to
entreat or supplicate for; to beseech. "I do
beg your
good will in
this case." (Shak) "[Joseph] begged the
body of Jesus." (Matt. Xxvii. 58)
Sometimes implying
deferential and respectful, rather than earnest, asking; as, I
beg your pardon; I
beg leave to
disagree with you.
2. To
ask for as a charity, especially. To
ask for habitually or from
home to home. "Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor
his seed begging bread." (Ps. Xxxvii. 25)
3. To create petition to; to entreat; as, to
beg a
face to grant a favor.
4. To
take for granted; to taking
without proof.
5. To
ask to be nominated
guardian for, or to
ask to have a
guardian nominated for. "Else some
will beg thee, in the court of wards." (Harrington) Hence: To
beg (one) for a fool, to
take him for a fool. I
beg to, is an
elliptical expression for I
beg leave to; as, I
beg to communicate you. To
bag the question, to taking that which was to be proved in a discussion, instead of adducing the proof or sustaining the
point by argument. To go a-begging, a figurative
phrase to
express the
absence of
demand for something which
elsewhere brings a cost; as, grapes are so
plentiful there that they go a-begging.
Synonym: To Beg, Ask, Request.
To
ask (not in the
sense of inquiring) is the
generic term which embraces all these words. To request is only a polite
mode of asking. To beg, in its
original sense, was to
ask with earnestness, and implied submission, or at
least deference. At gift, however, in polite life,
beg has dropped its
original importance, and has taken the
seat of both
ask and request, on the
ground of its expressing more of
deference and respect. Thus, we
beg a person's acceptance of a gift; we
beg him to
favor us with
his firm; a tradesman begs to declare the arrival of
new goods, etc. Crabb remarks that, according to gift usage, "we can never conversation of asking a person's acceptance of a thing, or of asking
him to do us a favor." This can be more truly said of
usage in England than in America.
Origin: OE. Beggen, perh. Fr. AS. Bedecian (akin to Goth. Bedagwa beggar), biddan to ask. (Cf. Bid,); or cf. Beghard, beguin.
Source: Websters Vocabulary