as in to beg
to persuade someone to give you (something) for free
He spent his time trying to cadge drinks from the customers. She cadged money from her sister.
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Recent Examples of cadge
Most reporters struggled to cadge a ride to the more distant fronts with the dirty soldiers who kept Franco’s forces at bay.
—
Literary Hub, 24 Feb. 2026
Schwarzenegger made a pilgrimage to Washington to cadge more money from the government, but came home empty-handed.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2025
Ansa works in a Helsinki supermarket, collecting expired food and cadging the odd casserole for her dinner.
—Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 4 Dec. 2023
One weekend, a colleague cadged a Chrysler minivan.
—Brett Berk, Car and Driver, 1 May 2023
See All Example Sentences for cadge
Literary Hub, 24 Feb. 2026
Schwarzenegger made a pilgrimage to Washington to cadge more money from the government, but came home empty-handed.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2025
Ansa works in a Helsinki supermarket, collecting expired food and cadging the odd casserole for her dinner.
—Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 4 Dec. 2023
One weekend, a colleague cadged a Chrysler minivan.
—Brett Berk, Car and Driver, 1 May 2023
See All Example Sentences for cadge
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cadge
Verb
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Several visiting unaffiliated curators, who would not go on the record for this story with quotes, begged for more cohesion.—
Nate Freeman,
Vanity Fair,
8 May 2026
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Most regular folks, including the thousands of fans streaming into Quail Hollow Thursday, would beg to differ.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
8 May 2026
Verb
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The Leavenworth Police Department has yet to identify a man who allegedly attempted to coerce a 16-year-old into his vehicle in the city on Wednesday.—
Caroline Zimmerman
May 8,
Kansas City Star,
8 May 2026
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However, his pressure campaign against the central bank’s board and its current chairman, Jerome Powell, has grown into using the power of the federal government to bully and coerce.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
6 May 2026
Verb
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The vote requests that the department’s all-civilian watchdog adopt new guidelines similar to San Francisco, which bars police officers from pulling people over for broken taillights and other minor equipment violations unless there is a safety threat.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
7 May 2026
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Deputies determined Mattson was on felony probation and requested that Sacramento County Probation place a hold on him, but the department declined, according to the Sheriff’s Office.—
Corey Schmidt,
Sacbee.com,
6 May 2026
Verb
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The congresswoman asked lawmakers to assess the situation and develop a repatriation plan by the end of the day on May 7.—
Eve Chen,
USA Today,
8 May 2026
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The debate was sponsored by The Denver Post, Denver7 and Colorado Public Radio, and the first question asked Bennet and Weiser to identify a policy position that separated them.—
Seth Klamann,
Denver Post,
8 May 2026
Verb
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Guests to the 79th edition will find, on the sixth floor of the Hôtel Barrière Le Majestic, a sweeping, 3,770-square-foot suite decorated to conjure up the atmosphere of a Riviera view, with shades of sky blue mixed with white.—
Jennifer Weil,
Footwear News,
12 May 2026
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Although the term might conjure thoughts of minuscule garden gnomes and fairies, the reality is quite the opposite.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
12 May 2026
Verb
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On top of that, Nico is also, quite obviously, just mooching off/clinging to Mindy because he got cut off by his family.—
Jessica M. Goldstein,
Vulture,
19 Dec. 2025
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The Netflix rep says there is no correlation between this change and people mooching off other people's accounts.—
Boone Ashworth,
Wired News,
1 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Since neither Bronin nor Larson achieved 50% on the first round, the delegates were required to vote again in a second round.—
Christopher Keating,
Hartford Courant,
12 May 2026
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Meeting it would require me to sprint across the twentieth century.—
Jill Lepore,
New Yorker,
12 May 2026
Verb
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Because different advertisers set a variety of business goals for themselves, using outcomes only would give rise to a chaotic scenario in which one show must compete for foot traffic, ticket sales, coupon orders and more, depending on what the sponsor demanded.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
9 May 2026
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But creativity demands discipline — something Diggins will provide in droves.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
9 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cadge.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cadge. Accessed 14 May. 2026.
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