# borrow

/ˈbɑˌɹoʊ/ (US) · /bˈɒɹəʊ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/borrow
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. to take temporarily

verb · CEFR A2

to take something from someone for a short time, planning to give it back.

For teachers: to receive something from another party temporarily with the expectation of returning it.

- I forgot my umbrella, so I had to borrow one from my colleague.
- The student asked to borrow the reference text overnight, promising to return it before the library opened the following morning.

Usage: Takes the preposition 'from' for the source.

### 2. to take a loan

verb · CEFR B1

to take money from a bank and pay it back over time.

For teachers: to obtain funds from a financial institution or lender under an agreement to repay the principal, usually with interest.

- They had to borrow a lot of money to buy their first house.
- Small businesses often need to borrow capital to manage cash flow during their first few years of operation.

### 3. to adopt an idea

verb · CEFR B2

to use an idea or style that someone else started.

For teachers: to adopt or copy an idea, method, or stylistic element from another source.

- The writer decided to borrow some ideas from old folk tales.
- Modern architects frequently borrow elements from brutalist design to create a sense of permanence and strength in urban spaces.

### 4. linguistic adoption

verb · CEFR C1 · Technical

to take a word from one language and start using it in another.

For teachers: to adopt a word or phrase from one language into another through linguistic contact.

- English decided to borrow the word 'ballet' from French.
- Linguists study how languages borrow terms for new technologies rather than inventing native equivalents.

### 5. math subtraction

verb · CEFR B1

to take 'one' from a higher column in a subtraction problem.

For teachers: to shift a unit from a higher-value column to a lower-value column during a subtraction calculation.

- When you subtract 9 from 22, you need to borrow from the tens column.
- Primary school students often struggle with the concept of borrowing when they first encounter multi-digit subtraction.

### 6. to interrupt someone

verb · CEFR B2 · Informal

to ask someone to stop what they are doing to help you for a moment.

For teachers: to interrupt a person's current activity to request their assistance or a brief conversation.

- Can I borrow you for a second to help me move this table?
- The manager asked if she could borrow the lead developer for a quick consultation regarding the server migration.

### 7. programming memory

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

in some computer languages, when one part of the code uses data owned by another part.

For teachers: the temporary transfer of access to a value without transferring ownership, particularly in the Rust programming language.

- The compiler rejected the code because of an invalid borrow.
- Effective memory management in Rust requires a deep understanding of how the borrow checker validates references at compile time.

## Examples

- Can I borrow your pen for a moment?
- I need to borrow a book from the library to finish my research project by Friday.
- In many programming languages, a system may borrow a reference to a piece of data, allowing it to read the information without taking full ownership of the memory.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.