''begrudge'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260904152658-00-⌔

begrudge - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Verb

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

• To grudge about or over; be envious or covetous.
• To be reluctant.
• (usually with negative connotations) To give reluctantly.
  • ✤ Okay, then, next time you go and leave me stay here. See if I begrudge you a little fun.¹
  • ✤ “Trial’ll probably be Monday. You can keep him one night, can’t you? I don’t think anybody in Maycomb’ll begrudge me a client, with times this hard.”²
  • ✤ 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.³

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /bɪˈɡɹʌd͡ʒ/
• Audio (Southern England): 🔊

Printed 2026-09-04.

(echo:: @ ⌗)

Footnotes

1. 1958 May, Avram Davidson, “Or All The Seas With Oysters”, in Galaxy Science Fiction ‎${}^{[1]}$, volume 16, number 1, page 50: ↩

2. 1960 July 11, Harper Lee, chapter 15, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC: ↩

3. 2011 September 13, Sam Lyon, “Borussia Dortmund 1 - 1 Arsenal”, in BBC ‎${}^{[2]}$: ↩