begrudge

English

Etymology

From Middle English bigrucchen (“to grumble at”), equivalent to be- (“at, about, over”) +‎ grudge. Compare also English begrouch.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /bɪˈɡɹʌd͡ʒ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

begrudge (third-person singular simple present begrudges, present participle begrudging, simple past and past participle begrudged)

1. To grudge about or over; be envious or covetous.
2. To be reluctant.
3. To give reluctantly.
   • 1958 May, Avram Davidson, “Or All The Seas With Oysters”, in Galaxy Science Fiction‎, volume 16, number 1, page 50:

     Okay, then, next time you go and leave me stay here. See if I begrudge you a little fun.

   • 2011 September 13, Sam Lyon, “Borussia Dortmund 1 - 1 Arsenal”, in BBC‎:

     A defeat would have been harsh on the Gunners, especially after an improved rearguard action in the second half, but few could begrudge the German side a point from a match they dominated for long spells.

Derived terms

• begrudgement
• begrudger
• begrudgery
• begrudging

Translations

to grudge over

Maori: takarita Ukrainian: бурчати (uk) (burčaty)

give reluctantly

Bulgarian: давам неохотно (davam neohotno) Chinese: Mandarin: 勉強(給), 勉强(给) (miǎnqiǎng [gěi]), 不愿(給), 不愿(给) (bùyuàn [gěi]), 吝惜 (zh) (lìnxī) Finnish: hangoitella (fi) Greek: Ancient Greek: μεγαίρω (megaírō) Ukrainian: шкодувати (škoduvaty), жаліти (uk) (žality), скупитися (skupytysja)

be envious or covetous

Bulgarian: завиждам (bg) (zaviždam) Chinese: Mandarin: 妒忌 (zh) (dùjì) Dutch: benijden (nl) Finnish: kadehtia (fi) Ukrainian: заздрити (zazdryty)

Anagrams

• buggered, debugger