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Showing results for budge. Search instead for budged.
Synonyms

budge

1 American  
[buhj] / bʌdʒ /

verb (used without object)

budged, budging

  1. to move slightly; begin to move.

    He stepped on the gas but the car didn't budge.

  2. to change one's opinion or stated position; yield.

    Once her father had said “no,” he wouldn't budge.

verb (used with object)

budged, budging

  1. to cause to move; begin to move.

    It took three of them to budge the rock.

  2. to cause (someone) to reconsider or change an opinion, decision, or stated position.

    They couldn't budge the lawyer.
    Synonyms:
    convince, sway, move, induce, persuade
budge 2 American  
[buhj] / bʌdʒ /

noun

  1. a fur made from lambskin with the wool dressed outward, used especially as an inexpensive trimming on academic or official gowns.

adjective

  1. made from, trimmed, or lined with budge.

  2. Obsolete. pompous; solemn.

Budge 3 American  
[buhj] / bʌdʒ /

noun

  1. (John) Donald, 1915–2000, U.S. tennis player.

budge 1 British  
/ bʌdʒ /

verb

  1. to move, however slightly

    the car won't budge

  2. to change or cause to change opinions, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Budge 2 British  
/ bʌdʒ /

noun

  1. Don ( ald ). 1915–2000, US tennis player, the first man to win the Grand Slam of singles championships (Australia, France, Wimbledon, and the US) in one year (1938)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
budge 3 British  
/ bʌdʒ /

noun

  1. a lambskin dressed for the fur to be worn on the outer side

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • budger noun
  • unbudged adjective
  • unbudging adjective

Etymology

Origin of budge1

1580–90; < Anglo-French, Middle French bouger to stir < Vulgar Latin *bullicāre to bubble, frequentative of Latin bullīre; boil 1

Origin of budge2

1350–1400; Middle English bugee, perhaps akin to budget

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Powell and the committee refused to budge until they were ready.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026

The Olympian didn’t budge, and the standoff ended with his disqualification.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 15, 2026

Prime Minister Keir Starmer had to reassure the public that the government wouldn’t budge on this, and thanks to pressure from constituents, it didn’t.

From Slate • Feb. 13, 2026

In a basketball game matching perhaps the top two public school teams in Orange County, Corona del Mar and Los Alamitos went back and forth, with neither wanting to budge.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 6, 2026

At first it wouldn’t budge, but slowly it gave...like coming loose from strong glue.

From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.