beg

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

v. implore, beseech; ask alms. See poverty, request.

II

(Roget's IV) v.

1. [To ask earnestly or importunately]

Syn. entreat, implore, beseech, ask, supplicate, crave, solicit, pray for, urge, plead, sue, importune, petition, apply to, request, press, call on, call upon, appeal to, requisition, conjure, adjure, apostrophize, canvass; see also ask 1 .

Ant. order, concede, accede.

2. [To ask alms]

Syn. appeal to, ask alms, live on charity, panhandle*, clamor for, solicit, seek alms, solicit charity, want, starve, go from door to door, live from hand to mouth, mendicate, cadge, mooch*, bum*, sponge*, scrounge*, chisel*, touch*, make a touch*, put the touch on*, hit*, hit up*, pass the hat, pass the cup*.

Ant. give*, bestow, endow.

• beg the question,

Syn. equivocate, dodge, hedge; see evade 1 .

• go begging,

Syn. be unwanted, be unpopular, find no takers, be in little demand, be unneeded, be rejected, lose out; see also fail 1 .

Syn.- beg implies humbleness or earnestness in asking for something and is now often used in polite formulas [ I beg to differ ] ; solicit suggests courtesy and formality in petitioning for something [ we solicit your aid ] or a general canvassing [ to solicit donations ] ; entreat implies the use of all the persuasive power at one's command; beseech suggests fervor or passion in the asking and connotes anxiety over the outcome; implore is stronger still, suggesting desperation or Great distress; importune suggests persistence in entreating, often to the point of becoming troublesome or annoying

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) v.

1. panhandle scrounge, *cadge, *bum off from, solicit, *sponge off.

2. ask for beseech, implore, plead, petition, solicit, entreat.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) verb 1. To ask or ask for as charity: bum1, cadge. Informal: panhandle. Slang: mooch. See REQUEST. 2. To make an earnest or urgent request: appeal, beseech, crave, entreat, implore, plead, pray, sue, supplicate. Archaic: conjure. See ASK.