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  Beg \Beg\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Begged; p. pr. & vb. n.
     Begging.] [OE. beggen, perh. fr. AS. bedecian (akin to
     Goth. bedagwa beggar), biddan to ask. (Cf. Bid, v. t.); or
     cf. beghard, beguin.]
     1. To ask earnestly for; to entreat or supplicate for; to
        beseech.
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              I do beg your good will in this case. --Shak.
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              [Joseph] begged the body of Jesus.    --Matt. xxvii.
                                                    58.
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     Note: Sometimes implying deferential and respectful, rather
           than earnest, asking; as, I beg your pardon; I beg
           leave to disagree with you.
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     2. To ask for as a charity, esp. to ask for habitually or
        from house to house.
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              Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his
              seed begging bread.                   --Ps. xxxvii.
                                                    25.
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     3. To make petition to; to entreat; as, to beg a person to
        grant a favor.
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     4. To take for granted; to assume without proof.
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     5. (Old Law) To ask to be appointed guardiln for, or to aso
        to havo a guardian appointed for.
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              Else some will beg thee, in the court of wards.
                                                    --Harrington.
        [1913 Webster] Hence:
  
     To beg (one) for a fool, to take him for a fool.
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     I beg to, is an elliptical expression for I beg leave to;
        as, I beg to inform you.
  
     To beg the question, to assume that which was to be proved
        in a discussion, instead of adducing the proof or
        sustaining the point by argument.
  
     To go a-begging, a figurative phrase to express the absence
        of demand for something which elsewhere brings a price;
        as, grapes are so plentiful there that they go a-begging.
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     Syn: To Beg, Ask, Request.
  
     Usage: To ask (not in the sense of inquiring) is the generic
            term which embraces all these words. To request is
            only a polite mode of asking. To beg, in its original
            sense, was to ask with earnestness, and implied
            submission, or at least deference. At present,
            however, in polite life, beg has dropped its original
            meaning, and has taken the place of both ask and
            request, on the ground of its expressing more of
            deference and respect. Thus, we beg a person's
            acceptance of a present; we beg him to favor us with
            his company; a tradesman begs to announce the arrival
            of new goods, etc. Crabb remarks that, according to
            present usage, ``we can never talk of asking a
            person's acceptance of a thing, or of asking him to do
            us a favor.'' This can be more truly said of usage in
            England than in America.
            [1913 Webster]

  
  
     5. (Old Law) To ask to be appointed guardian for, or to ask
        to have a guardian appointed for.
  
              Else some will beg thee, in the court of wards.
                                                    --Harrington.
        Hence:
  
     To beg (one) for a fool, to take him for a fool.
  
     I beg to, is an elliptical expression for I beg leave to;
        as, I beg to inform you.
  
     To beg the question, to assume that which was to be proved
        in a discussion, instead of adducing the proof or
        sustaining the point by argument.
  
     To go a-begging, a figurative phrase to express the absence
        of demand for something which elsewhere brings a price;
        as, grapes are so plentiful there that they go a-begging.
  
     Syn: To Beg, Ask, Request.
  
     Usage: To ask (not in the sense of inquiring) is the generic
            term which embraces all these words. To request is
            only a polite mode of asking. To beg, in its original
            sense, was to ask with earnestness, and implied
            submission, or at least deference. At present,
            however, in polite life, beg has dropped its original
            meaning, and has taken the place of both ask and
            request, on the ground of its expressing more of
            deference and respect. Thus, we beg a person's
            acceptance of a present; we beg him to favor us with
            his company; a tradesman begs to announce the arrival
            of new goods, etc. Crabb remarks that, according to
            present usage, ``we can never talk of asking a
            person's acceptance of a thing, or of asking him to do
            us a favor.'' This can be more truly said of usage in
            England than in America.