beg1

[beg] /bɛg/
verb (used with object), begged, begging.
1.
to ask for as a gift, as charity, or as a favor:
to beg alms; to beg forgiveness.
2.
to ask (someone) to give or do something; implore:
He begged me for mercy. Sit down, I beg you.
3.
to take for granted without basis or justification:
a statement that begs the very point we're disputing.
4.
to fail or refuse to come to grips with; avoid; evade:
a report that consistently begs the whole problem.
verb (used without object), begged, begging.
5.
to ask alms or charity; live by asking alms.
6.
to ask humbly or earnestly:
begging for help; begging to differ.
7.
(of a dog) to sit up, as trained, in a posture of entreaty.
Verb phrases
8.
beg off, to request or obtain release from an obligation, promise, etc.:
He had promised to drive us to the recital but begged off at the last minute.
Idioms
9.
beg the question, to assume the truth of the very point raised in a question.
10.
go begging, to remain open or available, as a position that is unfilled or an unsold item:
The job went begging for lack of qualified applicants.
Origin
before 900; Middle English beggen, by assimilation from Old English *bedican, syncopated variant of bedecian to beg; compare Gothic bidagwa beggar. See bead
Related forms
half-begging, adjective
unbegged, adjective
Synonyms
2. entreat, pray, beseech, petition. Beg and request are used in certain conventional formulas, in the sense of ask. Beg, once a part of many formal expressions used in letter writing, debate, etc., is now used chiefly in such courteous formulas as I beg your pardon; The Committee begs to report, etc. Request, more impersonal and now more formal, is used in giving courteous orders (You are requested to report ) and in commercial formulas like to request payment.
British Dictionary definitions for beg the question

beg1

/bɛɡ/
verb begs, begging, begged
1.
when intr, often foll by for. to solicit (for money, food, etc), esp in the street
2.
to ask (someone) for (something or leave to do something) formally, humbly, or earnestly: I beg forgiveness, I beg to differ
3.
(intransitive) (of a dog) to sit up with forepaws raised expectantly
4.
to leave unanswered or unresolved: to beg a point
5.
beg the question
  1. to evade the issue
  2. to assume the thing under examination as proved
  3. to suggest that a question needs to be asked: the firm's success begs the question: why aren't more companies doing the same?
6.
go begging, go a-begging, to be unwanted or unused
See also beg off
Usage note
The use of beg the question to mean that a question needs to be asked is considered by some people to be incorrect
Word Origin
C13: probably from Old English bedecian; related to Gothic bidagwabeggar

beg2

/bɛɡ/
noun
1.
a variant of bey
Contemporary definitions for beg the question
verb

to assume an answer to an unstated question or premise

Word Origin and History for beg the question

beg

v.

c.1200, perhaps from Old English bedecian "to beg," from Proto-Germanic *beth-; or possibly from Anglo-French begger, from Old French begart (see beggar). The Old English word for "beg" was wædlian, from wædl "poverty." Of trained dogs, 1816.

As a courteous mode of asking (beg pardon, etc.), first attested c.1600. To beg the question translates Latin petitio principii, and means "to assume something that hasn't been proven as a basis of one's argument," thus "asking" one's opponent to give something unearned, though more of the nature of taking it for granted without warrant.

beg the question in Culture

beg the question definition


To assume what has still to be proved: “To say that we should help the region's democratic movement begs the question of whether it really is democratic.”

Related Abbreviations for beg the question

BEG

big evil grin
beg the question in the Bible

That the poor existed among the Hebrews we have abundant evidence (Ex. 23:11; Deut. 15:11), but there is no mention of beggars properly so called in the Old Testament. The poor were provided for by the law of Moses (Lev. 19:10; Deut. 12:12; 14:29). It is predicted of the seed of the wicked that they shall be beggars (Ps. 37:25; 109:10). In the New Testament we find not seldom mention made of beggars (Mark 10:46; Luke 16:20, 21; Acts 3:2), yet there is no mention of such a class as vagrant beggars, so numerous in the East. "Beggarly," in Gal. 4:9, means worthless.

Idioms and Phrases with beg the question

beg the question

Take for granted or assume the truth of the very thing being questioned. For example, Shopping now for a dress to wear to the ceremony is really begging the question—she hasn't been invited yet. This phrase, whose roots are in Aristotle's writings on logic, came into English in the late 1500s. In the 1990s, however, people sometimes used the phrase as a synonym of “ask the question” (as in The article begs the question: “What are we afraid of?”).

beg

also see:
go begging