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budge

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budge¹

  • /bʌd͡ʒ/ UK

Rhymes with -ʌdʒ

Where it comes from

Borrowed 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.

verb budges · budging · budged · bouge · budg

  1. intransitive, in the negative To 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.
  2. transitive, in the negative To move; to shift from a fixed position. I’ve been pushing this rock as hard as I can, but I can’t budge it.
  3. in the negative To yield in one’s opinions or beliefs. The Minister for Finance refused to budge on the new economic rules.
  4. Canada, Western, in the negative To 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!
  5. in the negative To try to improve the spot of a decision on a sports field.

Similar: shift

budge²

  • /bʌd͡ʒ/ UK

Rhymes with -ʌdʒ

Where it comes from

From Middle English bouge, bougie, bugee, from Anglo-Norman bogé, from Anglo-Latin *bogea, bulgia, related to Latin bulga (“a leathern bag or knapsack”). Doublet of bulge.

noun

  1. uncountable, in the negative A 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.

adjective

  1. not comparable, obsolete, in the negative austere or stiff, like scholastics Those budge doctors of the stoic fur.

budge³

  • /bʌd͡ʒ/ UK

Rhymes with -ʌdʒ

Where it comes from

Perhaps related to booze.

noun

  1. obsolete, slang, uncountable, in the negative Alcoholic drink.

Budge⁴

Where it comes from

English (mainly Anglo-Norman) surname, from Norman bouoche (“mouth”).

proper noun Budges

  1. A surname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: stir, agitate, shift, move, succumb, recant, cede, relinquish, yield, touch, concede, slam, wiggle, flinch, derail, moves

verb

Similar: shift

Translations

Every language

verb intransitive: to move

Españolmover
Portuguêsmover-se
Françaisbouger
Deutschvon der Stelle rühren, vom Fleck bewegen, regen
Românăclinti
Русскийдви́гаться dvígatʹsja, тронуться tronutʹsja

verb transitive: to move

Españolmover
Françaisbouger
Românămuta, clinti
Русскийдви́гать dvígatʹ, стронуть stronutʹ

verb to yield in opinion

Românăceda, renunța
Русскийуступить ustupitʹ

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Cite this
MLA

"budge." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/budge. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

budge. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/budge

Chicago

"budge." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/budge.

BibTeX
@misc{budge_2026,
  title = {budge},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/budge},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}