beggar
beggar — noun
1. a very poor person who gets food or small amounts of money from strangers by ask
a very poor person who gets food or small amounts of money from strangers by asking for help
A beggar sat outside the station with a paper cup.
beggar + sit outside [place]
Near the bridge, an old beggar asked tourists for bread.
ask somebody for food or money
Rain soaked the beggar's blanket during the night market.
At the bus stop, there was a beggar holding a cardboard sign.
A young beggar shared his soup with a stray dog.
- panhandler
mainly American and usually means someone asking strangers in public for small amounts of money
- mendicant
formal and more likely in writing than in everyday speech
- pauper
means a very poor person, not necessarily someone asking in the street
文法句型
a beggar asks for money
a beggar in the street
give money to a beggar
用法筆記
Usually refers to someone living by asking strangers for food or money in public places. Distinguish from noun/2, which is an informal way to talk about a person and often follows an adjective.
常見錯誤
2. a person, talked about with sympathy, envy, or annoyance, especially after an ad
a person, talked about with sympathy, envy, or annoyance, especially after an adjective
Poor beggar, Ken missed the last train home again.
adjective + beggar
Lucky beggar, Mia won backstage tickets on her first try.
The silly beggar locked his keys inside the van.
That poor beggar slipped on the wet steps outside school.
Old beggar, Mr. Shaw still bikes to work at eighty.
文法句型
poor beggar
lucky beggar
silly beggar
用法筆記
Usually follows an adjective such as poor, lucky, silly, or old, and it is mostly spoken and informal. Distinguish from noun/1, which means a person who lives by begging.
常見錯誤
beggar — verb
1. to drive a person, group, or organization into extreme poverty
to drive a person, group, or organization into extreme poverty
Years of war beggared farming towns across the northern plain.
beggar + group or place
The hospital was beggared by repair costs after the flood.
passive: be beggared by [cause]
One bad loan nearly beggared the family business in June.
By winter, the long strike had beggared many small shops.
Rising rent could beggar older artists living near the market.
- impoverish
close in meaning and often used in social or economic discussion
- ruin
broader and can describe non-financial damage as well
- bankrupt
more specific to money and often to businesses or legal status
- enrich
means to make someone or something richer
文法句型
beggar + person
beggar + organization
be beggared by + cause
用法筆記
Object is usually a person, family, town, business, or other organization harmed by war, debt, disaster, or heavy costs. Distinguish from the rejected fixed-expression use in beggar belief, where the idea is not about poverty.