Verb
Their horses refused to budge.
The door was stuck, and we couldn't even get it to budge.
Could you try opening this jar for me? I can't budge the lid.
We tried to change her mind, but we couldn't budge her.
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Noun
This semi-permanent, ultra-matte liquid eyeliner delivers intense color that won’t crack, bleed, or budge—no matter how long your day (or night) runs.—Jailynn Taylor, Allure, 18 May 2025 Supply and Demand The problem here is simply one of supply and demand: while the supply of music grows at an increasing rate every year, the demand for it barely budges.—Bill Rosenblatt, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025
Verb
The bill went through intense debate in two committees last week as an alliance of blue-state Republicans and fiscal hawks refused to budge.—Caroline Linton, CBS News, 25 May 2025 But conservative hard-liners on the other side of the GOP have been less willing to budge.—Nik Popli, Time, 21 May 2025
Adjective
The works council and union have repeatedly warned of further escalation of strikes should Volkswagen's management not budge in negotiations.—Sophie Kiderlin,jenni Reid,holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 9 Dec. 2024 Nike hasn’t seen its emissions budge in the past decade, despite promises to sharply reduce them.—Rob Davis, ProPublica, 6 Sep. 2024 See All Example Sentences for budge
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English bugee, from Anglo-French buge
Verb
Anglo-French bouger, from Vulgar Latin *bullicare, from Latin bullire to boil — more at boil
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