▪ I. beggar, n.
(ˈbɛgə(r))
Forms: 3 beggare, 4–5 beggere, 4–7 begger, 4– beggar.
[See beg v. The spelling in -ar has been occasional from 14th c., but the usual form in 15–17th c., as an ordinary agent-noun from beg, was begger: see 3.]
1. a. One who asks alms, especially habitually; one who lives by so doing.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 168 Hit is beggares [v.r. beggilde] rihte uorte beren bagge on bac. a 1300 K. Horn 1133 Þu wenest I beo a beggere. 1382 Wyclif Deut. xv. 4 Nedi and begger there shal not be among ȝow. c 1400 Destr. Troy xxxv. 13549 And now me bus, as a beggar, my bred for to thigge. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxxvii. 262 Beggers that were knowe openly for nedy poure beggers. c 1538 Starkey England iii. 91 The multytude of Beggarys in our cuntrey. 1610 Shakes. Temp. ii. ii. 34 They will not giue a doit to relieue a lame Begger. 1611 Bible Luke xvi. 20 A certaine begger named Lazarus. 1673 Ray Journ. Low C. 423 Near the door..an incredible number of Beggers. 1797 Godwin Enquirer ii. iii. 187 Those who pursue the trade of a common beggar. 1857 Kingsley Misc. II. 326 The beggars became a regular fourth-estate. |
b. sturdy beggar: an able-bodied man begging without cause, and often with violence.
| c 1538 Starkey England 176 Thys grete nombur of sturdy beggarys therby schold utturly be taken away. 1597 Act 39 Eliz. iv. §1 For the suppressing of rogues, vagabonds and sturdy beggers. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 48 ¶5 The Heroes appear only like sturdy Beggars. 1860 R. Vaughan Mystics (ed. 2) I. 143 There are some sturdy beggars who wander about the country availing themselves of the name of Beghard to lead an idle life. |
c. In many proverbial expressions.
| 1539 Taverner Erasm. Prov. (1552) 9 One begger byddeth wo that another by the dore shuld go. Ibid. 39 A beggars scryp is neuer fylled. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 23 Beggers should be no choosers. Ibid. 38 The begger maie syng before the theefe. Ibid. 171, I know him as well as the begger knowth his bag. 1581 Rich Farew. Mil. Prof., She sware by no beggers she would be so revenged. 1594 2nd Pt. Contention (1843) 132 Beggers mounted run their horse to death. 1613 Uncasing Machiavil's Instr. Sonne 7 Proue the prouerbe often tolde, ‘A carelesse Courtier yong, a Begger olde.’ 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. ii. i. 61 Who know the way as well as a begger knowes his dish. 1682 Bunyan Holy War 260 When Cerberus and Mr. Profane met, they were presently as great as beggars. 1690 W. Walker Idiom. Anglo-Lat. 46 Sue a beggar and catch a louse. 1706 Swift Polite Conv. i. (D.) Know him? Ay Madam, as well as a beggar knows his dish. 1809 Cobbett Pol. Reg. XV. xii. 429 Our own old saying: ‘Set a beggar on horse-back, and he'll ride to the devil.’ |
2. transf. One in indigent circumstances.
| 1340 Ayenb. 36 Vor hire time-zettinge hi destrueþ and makeþ beggeres þe knyȝtes. 1535 Coverdale Ecclus. xxxvii. 30 Some man..can geue.. prudent councell..and contynueth a begger. c 1550 Cheke Matt. v. 3 Happ{iacu} be y⊇ beggars in sprijt. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. i. 48 A begger that was vsd to come so smug vpon the Mart. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iii. xv. (1651) 128 Origanus assigns the same cause why Mercurialists are so poor, and most part beggers. |
† 3. One who begs a favour; one who entreats, a suppliant.
Obs. (The regular
mod. form of this and 4 would be
begger, as ‘a begger for mercy.’)
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxiv. (1811) 247 He had spent much and was an ill beggar: the king aunswered..If he be ashamed to begge, we are ashamed to giue. 1601 Shakes. All's Well i. iii. 22 Wilt thou needes be a begger? Clo. I doe beg your good will in this case. |
† 4. One who begs the question.
Obs.| 1579 Fulke Heskins's Parl. 130 O shamelesse begger, that craueth no lesse then the whole controuersie to be giuen him! a 1694 Tillotson (J.) These shameful beggars of principles..assume..to be men of reason. |
5. Applied to a mendicant friar or to a Beghard.
| c 1384 Wyclif De Eccl. Sel. Wks. III. 359 Newe sectis or ordris, boþe possessioneris & beggeris shulden ceese bi Cristis lawe. c 1400 Rom. Rose 7258 But beggers [Fr. Beguins] with these hodes wide, With sleight and pale faces lene. |
6. As a term of contempt:
a. = Mean or low fellow.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 13662 ‘Herd yee þis lurdan,’ coth þai, ‘þat beggar þat in sin was goten?’ c 1460 Towneley Myst. 70 If siche a beggere shold My kyngdom thus reyf me. 1869 R. Broughton Not Wisely 121 A sulky ill-conditioned sort of beggar. |
b. Used familiarly or playfully. (
Cf. baggage,
dog,
rogue, etc.)
| 1833 Marryat P. Simple xxxiii, Sir John left Sir W. Parker..to watch the Spanish beggars. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown 1, You're uncommon good-hearted little beggars. 1873 Black Pr. Thule xvii. 267 The cheekiest young beggar I have the pleasure to know. |
c. In
Cards, applied to the small cards 2 to 10.
d. A person who is remarkably adept at or keen on a particular pursuit, subject, etc. Const.
for or with
inf. colloq.| 1859 Chambers's Jrnl. 29 Jan. 77/1 He was..what Mr. Leech's miner denominated the conciliating curate, ‘a beggar to argue’, a stiffish one to tackle upon any mortal subject. 1949 Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 3) 987/2 A beggar for work, a constant hard worker: coll.: late C. 19–20. |
7. Comb. (in which
beggar approaches in use to an
adj.) General relations:
a. appositive, as
beggar-beard,
beggar-body,
beggar-boy,
beggar-brat,
beggar-child,
beggar-clan,
beggar-girl,
beggar-king,
beggar-maid,
beggar-man,
beggar-wife,
beggar-woman;
b. attrib. (of or befitting a beggar, beggarly), as
beggar-fear,
beggar-pride,
beggar-sport,
beggar-whine;
c. beggar-wise adv.;
beggar-patched adj.| 1955 J. R. R. Tolkien Return of King 354 Here's your fee, *beggar-beard. |
| 1765 Tucker Lt. Nat. II. 126 Above the dirty *beggar boys in the street. |
| a 1631 Drayton Wks. I. 244 (Jod.) Those *beggar brats wrapped in our rich perfumes. |
| 1938 L. MacNeice Earth Compels 54 The shapes of mist like hooded *beggar-children. |
| a 1821 Keats The Poet, Poorest of the *beggar-clan. |
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. i. 189 Or with pale *beggar-feare impeach my hight. |
| 1863 E. C. Clayton Queens of Song II. 172 She heard a *beggar-girl sing beneath the window of her hotel. |
| 1938 Yeats New Poems 32 Some boast of *beggar-kings. |
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. i. 14 When King Cophetua lou'd the *begger Maid. |
| 1605 ― Lear iv. i. 32 Is it a *Beggar⁓man? Oldm. Madman, and beggar too. 1882 R. Stevenson in Longm. Mag. I. 74 That wooden crowd of kings and genies, sorcerers and beggarmen. |
| 1658 A. Fox tr. Wurtz' Surg. i. iv. 15 A *Beggar-patch'd coat of severall sorts of old rags. |
| 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 277 Here *beggar pride defrauds her daily cheer. |
| 1652 Brome Jov. Crew v. Wks. 1873 III. 451 The Gentleman..that would have made *Beggar-sport with us. |
| 1820 Keats Isabella xvii, Paled in and vineyarded from *beggar-spies. |
| 1796 Scott Wild Huntsm. xxvii, To stop my sport Vain were thy cant and *beggar whine. |
| 1623 J. Penkerton Handf. Hon. iv. i, Wealth despise Which they that doat vpon, liue *beggar-wise. |
| 1530 Palsgr. 197/1 *Beggar woman, belistresse. 1594 1st Pt. Contention (1843) 53 One of them was stolne away by a begger-woman. 1859 Tennyson Enid 1528 This silken rag, this beggar-woman's weed. |
8. Special combinations:
† beggars' bolts, stones;
† beggar-brach, a female beggar (see
brach, a female hound);
beggar's brown (
colloq.), Scotch snuff;
† beggar's-bush, a bush under which a beggar finds shelter (name of ‘a tree near Huntingdon, formerly a noted rendezvous for beggars’—Brewer),
fig. beggary, ruin;
beggar's buttons, the heads of the burdock;
† beggar-charge, allowance to a steward for the relief of beggars;
beggar's-haven, a beggar's shelter, beggary;
beggars'-lice, the plant called Clivers, also (in
U.S.) applied to certain boraginaceous plants, whose prickly fruit or seeds stick to the clothes;
† beggar-niggler, one who toys with a beggar-woman;
† beggar's plush? cotton velvet, or ? corduroy;
† beggar-staff, the staff of a beggar,
fig. beggary;
beggar's tape;
beggar-tick (in
U.S.), a name for the plant
Bidens frondosa;
† beggar's velvet, see
beggar's plush; also
quot.;
beggar-weed (see
quot.).
| 1584 Hudson Judith in Sylvester Du Bartas (1608) 698 A pack of country clowns..that them to battail bownes With *beggers bolts and levers. |
| a 1652 Brome Jov. Crew iii. Wks. 1873 III. 401 A brace of the handsomest *Beggar-braches that ever grac'd a Ditch or a Hedge-side. |
| 1879 Jamieson Sc. Dict., *Beggar's brown..light brown snuff which is made of the stem of tobacco. |
| 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier (1871) 6 Walking home by *Beggars Bush for a penance. |
| a 1640 Day Peregr. Schol. (1881) 75 Notwithstanding..Industry..he was forct to take a napp at *Beggars Bushe. |
| 1677 A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 99 We are almost at *Beggars-bush, and we cannot tell how to help our selves. |
| a 1652 Brome Jov. Crew ii. Wks. 1873 III. 382 Here's five and twenty pounds for this Quarters *Beggar-charge. |
| 1532 Dice Play (1850) 22 He must needs sink, and gather the wind into *beggars haven. |
| 1880 New Virginians I. 133 Look at the weeds..cockle-burrs, Spanish needles, *beggars'-lice. |
| a 1652 Brome Jov. Crew ii. Wks. 1873 III. 392 Do we look like *beggar-nigglers? |
| 1688 Lond. Gaz. No. 2379/4 A Person..in a dark grey Cloth Coat..Breeches of *Beggars Plush. |
| ? 1506 Plumpton Corr. 199 We are brought to *begger staffe. |
| 1864 Atkinson Whitby Gloss., Beggarstaff, ‘They brought him to *beggarstaff.’ |
| 1796 H. Glasse Cookery xviii. 289 Tie it very tight with *beggar's tape. |
| 1854 Thoreau Walden, Ess. 202 It was over-run with Roman worm⁓wood and *beggar-ticks, which last stuck to my clothes. |
| 1711 Lond. Gaz. No. 4888/3 A green *Beggars Velvet Frock with Metal Buttons. |
| 1847 Halliwell, *Beggar's velvet, the light particles of down shaken from a feather-bed, and left by a sluttish housemaid to collect under it. |
| 1878 Britten Plant-n. i. 33 *Beggar-weed, a name applied to several plants by farmers, either because they denote poverty of soil, or because they are such noxious weeds as to beggar the land. |
| 1884 Times 15 Apr. 8 The ‘*beggar weed’ (unknown in England)..stands 6 feet high all over the fields. |
Add:
[6.] [b.] (Later examples.) Also euphemistically for
bugger n.1 2 b (
prob. from at least the early 20th
cent.).
| 1903 ‘T. Collins’ Such is Life (1944) i. 62 He came down on his hand, poor beggar; it's swelled like a boxing-glove. 1904 Kipling Traffics & Discov. 343 'E said he was born at the back o' Vancouver Island, and all the time the beggar was a balmy Barnado Orphan! 1942 E. Langley Pea-Pickers (1958) ii. ii. 93 At last, the poor little beggars did their dialogue to a thunder of well-fed applause. 1978 Fortune 4 Dec. 100 The passenger's up there in the air flying at 500 miles an hour—his butt is on the plane for five hours... Then he comes down, and the plane starts taxiing in from the runway, and look: the beggars are already standing up, ready to jump off. 1980 F. Weldon Puffball 239 The surgeon found the head: used forceps. He sweated. ‘Little beggar,’ he said. ‘You seem to like it in there.’ |
▸
beggar's purse n. Cookery a pancake or sheet of pastry gathered into a shape resembling a purse or miniature sack around a savoury or sweet filling.
| 1981 N.Y. Times 21 Aug. c22/2 One irresistible conceit..is a serving of four *beggar's purses—tiny pouches formed of crepes tied with chives, holding excellent caviar and a dab of creme fraiche. 1991 Food & Wine Aug. 16/1 Nor could you ask for more delicious appetizers than..the beggar's purse of chicken, bean sprouts and bell pepper with mustard-chive sauce. 2002 D. Cicero et al. Galaxy Global Eatery Hemp Cookbk. Contents p. xxxviii, Beggar's purse with strawberry compote & chocolate sauce. |
▪ II. beggar, v. (
ˈbɛgə(r))
6–7
begger.
[f. prec. n.] 1. trans. a. To make a beggar of, exhaust the means of, reduce to beggary; to impoverish.
| 1528 Roy Sat. 845 Oure master shalbe beggered Of all his ryche possession. 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 232 These lawiers..beggering their clients..purchase to themselues whole lordships. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. iv. 145 [Conscience] beggars any man that keepes it. 1650 Fuller Pisgah iv. i. 5 Excess will begger wealth it-self. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 25 ¶8 He would beggar him by the exorbitant Bills which came from Oxford. 1864 Bright Distrib. Land, Sp. (1876) 455 The Cornlaw..beggared hundreds and thousands of the people. |
b. fig.| 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. iv. 61 Beggering the Opponent to maintain such a fruitful generation of absurdities. 1679 Plot Staffordsh. (1686) 152 It sometimes beggers it [the ground] for ever after. 1735 Bolingbroke Parties 19 (T.) To beggar them out of their sturdiness. |
2. To exhaust the resources of, go beyond, outdo; as in
to beggar description,
beggar compare, etc.
| 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. ii. 203 For her owne person It beggerd all discription. 1789 Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France I. 363 A place which beggars all description. 1815 Scribbleomania 15 Hunger's a sauce, sir, that beggars compare. 1825 Cobbett Rur. Rides 297 It beggars one's feelings to attempt to find words whereby to express them. |
3. Comb. beggar-my-neighbour: a simple game at cards often played by children. Also
fig.| 1734 Poor Robin's Almanack C 6 The Lawyers play at beggar my Neighbour. 1777 Brand Pop. Antiq. (1849) II. 396 Birkie, a childish game at cards: in England..called Beggar-my-neighbour. 1843 Southey Doctor cxlii. (D.) I cannot call to mind anything which is estimated so much below its deserts as the game of Beggar-my-neighbour. 1874 Helps Soc. Press. xxiv. 355, I believe he would throw some spirit and some hope into ‘Beggar my Neighbour.’ 1930 Times Educ. Suppl. 20 Dec. 511/2 The..argument..that the scale for Middlesex should be nearer to that for London..was merely playing ‘beggar-my-neighbour’. 1958 Spectator 1 Aug. 174/3 The continuous concentration on national selfishnesses and beggar-my-neighbour is distasteful. |