bor‧row S2 W3 / bɒrəʊ $ bɑroʊ, bɔ- / 动词 [不及物和及物动词]

1 to use something that belongs to someone else and that you must give back to them later → lend , loan :

Can I borrow your pen for a minute?

borrow something from somebody

You are allowed to borrow six books from the library at a time.

They borrowed heavily (= borrowed a lot of money ) from the bank to start their new business. ► Do not confuse borrow and lend (=give someone permission to use something of yours) : I borrowed his bike. | Can you lend me your pen?

2 to take or copy someone’s ideas, words etc and use them in your own work, language etc

borrow something from somebody/something

I borrowed my ideas from Eliot’s famous poem ‘The Waste Land’.

To borrow a 短语 (= use what someone else has said ) , if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

borrow from

English has borrowed words from many languages.

3 borrow trouble American English informal to worry about something when it is not necessary

→ be living on borrowed time at live 1 ( 17 ) , → beg, borrow, or steal at beg ( 8 )