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Definition of beggar verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

beggar

verb
 
/ˈbeɡə(r)/
 
/ˈbeɡər/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they beggar
 
/ˈbeɡə(r)/
 
/ˈbeɡər/
he / she / it beggars
 
/ˈbeɡəz/
 
/ˈbeɡərz/
past simple beggared
 
/ˈbeɡəd/
 
/ˈbeɡərd/
past participle beggared
 
/ˈbeɡəd/
 
/ˈbeɡərd/
-ing form beggaring
 
/ˈbeɡərɪŋ/
 
/ˈbeɡərɪŋ/
Idioms
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  1. beggar somebody/something/yourself to make somebody/something very poor
    • Why should I beggar myself for you?
    Oxford Collocations DictionaryBeggar is used with these nouns as the object:
    • belief
    • description
    See full entry
    Word OriginMiddle English: from beg + -ar.
Idioms
beggar belief/description
  1. to be too extreme, horrible, etc. to believe/describe
    • It beggars belief how things could have got this bad.
See beggar in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
trait
noun
 
 
From the Word list
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B2
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