borrow

/ˈbɒrəʊ/ verb [I or T]

Definition

› FINANCE, BANKING to take money from a bank or other financial organization with the intention of paying it back over a period of time, usually with interest added on: He will have to borrow £300 million to make his controversial takeover bid successful. Find out how much you can afford to borrow before you decide to buy a house.borrow from sth If you borrow from a credit card, the interest can be 20%.borrow sth from sth This is a way of borrowing money from international financial markets. Countries who had borrowed heavily to pay for oil imports were hit hard.

› to ask someone to give you money for a period of time, after which you intend to give it back to them: Can I borrow £20? I'll pay you back tomorrow.borrow (sth) from sb He borrowed some money from a friend.

→ Compare lend

(Definition of borrow verb from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)