beggar1 nounbeggar2 verb
beggarbeg‧gar1 /ˈbeɡə $ -ər/ ●○○ noun [countable] 
ExamplesEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- You can give beggars vouchers for food instead of cash.
- A beggar lad showed us the house in a dank, narrow alleyway where Mistress Hopkins lived.
- I imagined the beggar from the London streets sitting with the old woman Khadija in my village.
- Rome had probably more than the average number of beggars.
- The young beggar took the money wetted his finger and carefully counted the bills-twice.
- When Eumaeus came back he found the old beggar he had left.
- Without clothes, under his first blanket, he could have been the child of a king or a beggar.
Longman Language Activatorto accept a situation that you do not like► accept
Phrases to accept a situation that you do not like but you cannot change: · Divorce is hard on children, but they have to accept it.learn/come to accept (=eventually accept): · In the US, people have come to accept that they will probably have several different jobs over the course of their career.accept the fact (that): · It was difficult for Paul to accept the fact that he was going bald.accept that: · Steptoe finally accepted that his son didn't want to continue working in the family business.
► put up with something to accept an annoying situation or someone's annoying behaviour, without trying to stop it or change it: · I don't know how you put up with this noise day after day.· The kind of treatment that you have to put up with as a new army recruit is pretty horrible.
► tolerate to accept an unpleasant situation, without trying to change it: · For years the workers have had to tolerate low wages and terrible working conditions.· I told him I wasn't going to tolerate his drinking any longer.
► resign yourself to/be resigned to to realize that you must accept an unpleasant situation, because you cannot prevent it or avoid it: · The children have had to resign themselves to being without their father.resign yourself to the fact (that): · I'm resigned to the fact that I'm not going to get the job.
► make the best of it/make the best of a bad situation to accept a situation that you do not like, and try to enjoy it or make it less bad: · It's not the university that I really wanted to go to, but I suppose I'll just have to make the best of it.· Six months after the earthquake, city residents continue to make the best of a bad situation.
► bite the bullet to accept an unpleasant or difficult situation and say that you will deal with it: · It's not easy, but as a manager, sometimes you have to bite the bullet and fire people.
► beggars can't be choosers spoken said when you have to accept something you do not like because you do not have the money or power to choose anything else: · It would be nice to have a suit with a better fit, but as they say, beggars can't be choosers.
► that's the way the cookie crumbles spoken said when telling someone that a difficult situation must be accepted, especially because there is no way to prevent it or there is nothing anyone can do about it: · "Sorry you didn't get the job, Mike." "Yeah, thanks. I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles."
► grit your teeth to accept a situation or job you do not like and try to deal with it in a determined way: · Rescue workers here have little choice but to grit their teeth and get on with the grim task of recovering the bodies.· I was desperately unhappy in that job, but had to grit my teeth and stay smiling for the sake of my children.
WORD SETS► Sociologyabdicate, verbaffirmative action, nounage discrimination, nounageism, nounalienation, nounalmshouse, nounbackground, nounbeatnik, nounbeggar, nounbetterment, nounbirthrate, nounbohemian, adjectivebondage, nouncarer, nouncaretaker, nouncase work, nouncaste, nouncity planning, nouncommoner, nounconditioning, nounconsumer society, nounculture, noundisease, noundosser, noundoss house, noundown-and-out, noundownwardly mobile, adjectiveeuthanasia, nounformative, adjectivegenteel, adjectivegentlefolk, noungentleman, noungentlewoman, noungentry, noungeriatric, adjectivegerontology, noungrey, adjectivehermit, nounhierarchy, nounhippie, nounHonourable, adjectiveindependence, nounindustrialism, nouninequality, nouninfrastructure, nouninner city, nouninstitution, nouninstitutionalize, verbintegrate, verbliteracy, nounlower class, nounlow life, nounmatrix, nounmeritocracy, nounmobile, adjectivemores, nounmortality, nounNew Age traveller, nounorder, nounoutreach, nounpatriarchy, nounpecking order, nounpeer pressure, nounpetty bourgeois, adjectiveplebeian, nounpolitics, nounprogress, nounrank, nounreaction, nounrear, verbreceive, verbredneck, nounrevolution, nounsecularism, nounservice, nounsexual, adjectivesister, nounslave, nounslavery, nounsnowbird, nounsocial, adjectivesocial, nounsocialization, nounsocial science, nounsocial studies, nounsocial work, nounsocial worker, nounsociety, nounsocio-, prefixsocioeconomic, adjectivesoup kitchen, nounstratified, adjectivestratum, nounstreet people, nounsubgroup, nounsuburbanite, nounsuburbia, nounsupport group, nountownie, nountown meeting, nountown planning, nountownspeople, nountramp, noununattached, adjectiveuncle, noununconventional, adjectiveunderclass, nounupwardly mobile, adjectivewhite-collar, adjectiveworking class, noun
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► lucky/lazy/cheeky etc beggar► beggars can’t be choosers
1someone who lives by asking people for food and money: - I've been stood out there ages! - Anyway, why aren't you dressed yet, you lazy beggar?
- It would be nice to have a suit with a better fit, but as they say, beggars can't be choosers.
the beggars on the streets2lucky/lazy/cheeky etc beggar British English spoken used when speaking to or about someone you like: ‘How’s Dave?’ ‘The lucky beggar’s in the South of France!’3beggars can’t be choosers used to say that, when you have no money or no power to choose, you have to accept whatever you are givenbeggar1 nounbeggar2 verb
beggarbeggar2 verb [transitive] Verb TableVERB TABLE
beggar
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | beggar |
| he, she, it | beggars | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | beggared |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have beggared |
| he, she, it | has beggared | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had beggared |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will beggar |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have beggared |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am beggaring |
| he, she, it | is beggaring | |
| you, we, they | are beggaring | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was beggaring |
| you, we, they | were beggaring | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been beggaring |
| he, she, it | has been beggaring | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been beggaring |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be beggaring |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been beggaring |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Phrases- Floods combined with falling prices to beggar whole communities of farmers.
- In Gravity's Rainbow, conspiracies proliferate to such an extent that they beggar description.
- The thought of la belle dame de Bruges coming out with such stuff beggars belief.
- The vast panorama of teeming Life and Creation opened up to us through the teachings of Esotericism beggars human thought.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► beggar description/belief
1beggar description/belief if something beggars description or belief, it is impossible to describe or believe it: - Harry, that awful, awful singing beggars belief.
- In Gravity's Rainbow, conspiracies proliferate to such an extent that they beggar description.
- The initial radio message had beggared belief.
- The thought of la belle dame de Bruges coming out with such stuff beggars belief.
- The waste, deaths, brutality and destruction of property beggar description.
- What she found there still beggars belief.
They showed a lack of common sense that beggars belief.2 literary to make someone very poor: Why should he beggar himself for you?