borrow

The definition of borrow means to take or receive something with the intention of giving it back.

(verb)

A friend bringing a book to someone and that person returning it the following week is an example of to borrow.

Borrow means to take over something and use it as one's own.

(verb)

To use an established theory as the basis of a scientific experiment is an example of borrowed.

See borrow in Webster's New World College Dictionary

transitive verb, intransitive verb

to take or receive (something) with the understanding that one will return it or an equivalent
to adopt or take over (something) as one's own: to borrow a theory
to adopt and naturalize (a word, etc.) from another language: the word depot was borrowed from French
Arith. in subtraction, to take (a unit of ten) from the next higher place in the minuend and add it to the next lower place: done when the number to be subtracted in the subtrahend is greater than the corresponding number in the minuend

Origin: ME borwen < OE borgian, to borrow, lend, be surety for, akin to beorgan, to protect & borough

Related Forms:

See borrow in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb bor·rowed, bor·row·ing, bor·rows

verb, transitive

To obtain or receive (something) on loan with the promise or understanding of returning it or its equivalent.
To adopt or use as one's own: I borrowed your good idea.
In subtraction, to take a unit from the next larger denomination in the minuend so as to make a number larger than the number to be subtracted.
Linguistics To adopt (a word) from one language to use in another.

verb, intransitive

To obtain or receive something.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English borwen

Origin: , from Old English borgian; see bhergh-¹ in Indo-European roots

Related Forms: