budge

1 of 3

noun

: a fur formerly prepared from lambskin dressed with the wool outward

budge

2 of 3

verb

budged; budging

intransitive verb

1
: move, shift
the mule wouldn't budge
2
: to give way : yield
wouldn't budge on the issue

transitive verb

: to cause to move or change

budge

3 of 3

adjective

archaic

Examples of budge in a Sentence

Verb Their horses refused to budge. The door was stuck, and we couldn't even get it to budge. Could you try opening this jar for me? I can't budge the lid. We tried to change her mind, but we couldn't budge her.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
And yet one thing never budges: they've been undocumented for over three decades. Jasmine Garsd, NPR, 19 Nov. 2024 The push by the outgoing Biden administration to convince Americans to buy more battery electric vehicles is likely to slow down to barely a budge when Donald Trump returns to the White House in January. Ed Garsten, Forbes, 6 Nov. 2024
Verb
Even though the central bank started cutting interest rates in September, the average credit card interest rate has barely budged. Jessica Dickler, CNBC, 13 Dec. 2024 Yet gains in women’s bodily rights have been rolled back and the gender pay gap hasn’t budged much throughout the twenty-first century. Mariam Rahmani, People.com, 13 Dec. 2024
Adjective
The works council and union have repeatedly warned of further escalation of strikes should Volkswagen's management not budge in negotiations. Sophie Kiderlin,jenni Reid,holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 9 Dec. 2024 Nike hasn’t seen its emissions budge in the past decade, despite promises to sharply reduce them. Rob Davis, ProPublica, 6 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for budge 

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English bugee, from Anglo-French buge

Verb

Anglo-French bouger, from Vulgar Latin *bullicare, from Latin bullire to boil — more at boil

Adjective

origin unknown

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1578, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Adjective

1599, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of budge was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near budge

Cite this Entry

“Budge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/budge. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

budge

verb
ˈbəj
budged; budging
1
2
: give in, yield
wouldn't budge on their opinion

More from Merriam-Webster on budge

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