3 PHRASE You say 'I beg to differ ' when you are politely emphasizing that you disagree with someone. [POLITENESS ]
4 PHRASE If you say that something is going begging , you mean that it is available but no one is using it or accepting it. □ There is other housing going begging in town.
5 PHRASE If you say that something begs a particular question , you mean that it makes people want to ask that question; some people consider that this use is incorrect. □ Hopewell's success begs the question: why aren't more companies doing the same?
6 PHRASE If you say that something begs a particular question , you mean that it assumes that the question has already been answered and so does not deal with it. [WRITTEN ] □ The research begs a number of questions.
7 I beg your pardon → see pardon
be|gan /b I gæ n/ Began is the past tense of begin .
be|get /b I ge t/ (begets , begetting , begot , begotten )
1 VERB To beget something means to cause it to happen or be created. [FORMAL ] □ [V n] Poverty begets debt.
2 VERB When a man begets a child, he becomes the father of that child. [OLD-FASHIONED ]
be|get|ter /b I ge tə r / (begetters ) N‑COUNT [with poss] The begetter of something has caused this thing to come into existence. [FORMAL ] □ He was the true begetter of modern youth culture.
beg|gar /be gə r / (beggars , beggaring , beggared )
1 N‑COUNT A beggar is someone who lives by asking people for money or food.
2 VERB If something beggars a person, country, or organization, it makes them very poor. □ [V n] He warned that lifting copyright restrictions could beggar the industry.
3 PHRASE If something beggars belief , it is impossible to believe it. If something beggars description , it is impossible to describe it. □ The statistics beggar belief. □ His courage beggars description.
be g|ging bowl (begging bowls ) N‑COUNT If a country or organization approaches other countries or organizations with a begging bowl , it asks them for money. [mainly BRIT ] □ He said earlier that he is not holding out a begging bowl.
be g|ging le t|ter (begging letters ) N‑COUNT A begging letter is a letter from a person or organization in which they ask you to send some money for a particular purpose. [mainly BRIT , DISAPPROVAL ] □ I wrote hundreds of begging letters to charities and businesses.
be|gin ◆◆◆ /b I g I n/ (begins , beginning , began , begun )
1 VERB To begin to do something means to start doing it. □ [V to-inf] He stood up and began to move around the room. □ [V to-inf] The weight loss began to look more serious. □ [V v-ing] Snow began falling again.
2 VERB When something begins or when you begin it, it takes place from a particular time onwards. □ [V ] The problems began last November. □ [V n] He has just begun his fourth year in hiding. □ [V n] The U.S. is prepared to begin talks immediately.
3 VERB If you begin with something, or begin by doing something, this is the first thing you do. □ [V + with ] Could I begin with a few formalities? □ [V + by ] …a businessman who began by selling golf shirts from the boot of his car. □ [V n prep] He began his career as a sound editor.
4 VERB [no cont] You use begin to mention the first thing that someone says. □ [V with quote] 'Professor Theron,' he began, 'I'm very pleased to see you'. □ [V ] He didn't know how to begin.
5 VERB [no cont] If one thing began as another, it first existed in the form of the second thing. □ [V + as ] What began as a local festival has blossomed into an international event.
6 VERB [no cont] If you say that a thing or place begins somewhere, you are talking about one of its limits or edges. □ [V prep/adv] The fate line begins at the wrist.
7 VERB [no cont] If a word begins with a particular letter, that is the first letter of that word. □ [V + with ] The first word begins with an F.
8 VERB [no cont] If you say that you cannot begin to imagine, understand, or explain something, you are emphasizing that it is almost impossible to explain, understand, or imagine. [EMPHASIS ] □ [V to-inf] You can't begin to imagine how much that saddens me.
9 PHRASE You use to begin with when you are talking about the first stage of a situation, event, or process. □ It was great to begin with but now it's difficult.
10 PHRASE You use to begin with to introduce the first of several things that you want to say. □ 'What do scientists think about that?'—'Well, to begin with, they doubt it's going to work.'
11 to begin life → see life
be|gin|ner /b I g I nə r / (beginners ) N‑COUNT A beginner is someone who has just started learning to do something and cannot do it very well yet. □ The course is suitable for beginners and advanced students.
be|gin|ning ◆◇◇ /b I g I n I ŋ/ (beginnings )
1 N‑COUNT [usu sing] The beginning of an event or process is the first part of it. □ This was also the beginning of her recording career. □ Think of this as a new beginning.