Beggar Cannot

beggar

[beg-er]
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noun
1.
a person who begs alms or lives by begging.
2.
a penniless person.
3.
a wretched fellow; rogue:
the surly beggar who collects the rents.
4.
a child or youngster (usually preceded by little):
a sudden urge to hug the little beggar.
verb (used with object)
5.
to reduce to utter poverty; impoverish:
The family had been beggared by the war.
6.
to cause one's resources of or ability for (description, comparison, etc.) to seem poor or inadequate:
The costume beggars description.

British Dictionary definitions for beggar Expand
beggar
/ˈbɛɡə/
noun
1.
a person who begs, esp one who lives by begging
2.
a person who has no money or resources; pauper
3.
(ironic, jocular, mainly Brit) fellow: lucky beggar!
verb (transitive)
4.
to be beyond the resources of (esp in the phrase to beggar description)
5.
to impoverish; reduce to begging
Derived Forms
beggarhood, beggardom, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for beggar Expand
n.
c.1200, from Old French begart, originally a member of the Beghards, lay brothers of mendicants in the Low Countries, from Middle Dutch beggaert "mendicant," of uncertain origin, with pejorative suffix (see -ard ). Cf. Beguine. Early folk etymology connected the English word with bag. Form with -ar attested from 14c., but begger was more usual 15c.-17c. The feminine form beggestere is attested as a surname from c.1300. Beggar's velvet was an old name for "dust bunnies." "Beggers should be no choosers" is in Heywood (1562).

v.
"reduce to poverty," mid-15c., from beggar (n.). Related: Beggared ; beggaring. Figurative use by 1640s.

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