/bʌd͡ʒ/
OriginBorrowed from Middle French bouger, from Old French bougier, from Vulgar Latin *bullicāre (“to bubble; seethe; move; stir”), from Latin bullīre (“to boil; seethe; roil”). More at boil.
- intransitiveTo move; to be shifted from a fixed position.
“I’ve been pushing this rock as hard as I can, but it won’t budge an inch.”
“Ile not budge an inch boy: Let him come, and kindly.”
“[…]although his ſouldiers were much moved and offended to ſee their fellowes put to the worſt, he could not be induced to bouge from his place[…]”
- transitiveTo move; to shift from a fixed position.
“I’ve been pushing this rock as hard as I can, but I can’t budge it.”
- To yield in one’s opinions or beliefs.
“The Minister for Finance refused to budge on the new economic rules.”
“If only I could get Ambrose to take me away somewhere! But he won't budge.”
- Canada, WesternTo cut or butt (in line); to join the front or middle rather than the back of a queue.
“Hey, no budging! Don't budge in line!”
- To try to improve the spot of a decision on a sports field.
- uncountableA kind of fur prepared from lambskin dressed with the wool on, formerly used as an edging and ornament, especially on scholastic habits.
“They are become so liberal, as to part freely with their own budge-gowns from off their backs.”
“One hundred pieces of green silk for the Knights; fourteen budge furs for surcoats; thirteen hoods of budge for clerks, and seventy furs of lamb for liveries in summer.”
- obsolete, slang, uncountableAlcoholic drink.
- not-comparable, obsoleteaustere or stiff, like scholastics
“Those budge doctors of the stoic fur.” — Comus
“The solemn fop; significant and budge; A fool with judges, amongst fools a judge, He says but little and that little said, 'Owes all its weight, like loaded dice, to lead.”
“"My boy looked at me very budge," i.e., solemn.”
Formsbudges(present, singular, third-person) · budging(participle, present) · budged(participle, past) · budged(past) · bouge(alternative, obsolete) · budg(alternative, obsolete) · Budges(plural)