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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Example Sentences
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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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Back at the main building, Restaurant Kinsley draws both guests and locals with a seasonal New American menu featuring oysters, rigatoni, and a flourless brownie that begs for repeat orders.—
Jordi Lippe-McGraw,
Robb Report,
9 Apr. 2026
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The Blue Jays have been begging for a spark for the last six games, anything to reignite an offence and bring home a win.—
Mitch Bannon,
New York Times,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The house of another, Carlotta Walls, was bombed a month before her graduation, and the police subsequently tortured her father in an unsuccessful attempt to coerce a confession.—
Daniel Felsenthal,
Pitchfork,
4 Apr. 2026
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In the mid-twentieth century, the US government experimented on poor Black men in Tuskegee, Alabama, to understand the life-cycle of syphilis; the men were coerced into remaining in their study for decades despite the fact that the disease’s cure, penicillin, had been discovered.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Defense attorneys requested the change of venue to Tarrant County, arguing that Horner could not get a fair trial in Wise County.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
9 Apr. 2026
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Officers began life-saving measures and requested an ambulance to respond to the scene.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Aries March 21 – April 19 Your work — professional or personal — may ask a little more of you today.—
Tarot.com,
Sun Sentinel,
10 Apr. 2026
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Namira’s mother often asks her children to copy-edit her e-mails.—
Molly Fischer,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
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UConn tossed up brick after brick, missing 11 straight 3-point attempts in the second half until Braylon Mullins sank back-to-back 3s on consecutive possessions, conjuring thoughts of the miracle ending against Duke in the Elite Eight.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
7 Apr. 2026
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That may be a tribute to NDiaye’s success in conjuring a world in which knowledge is acquired not through explanation but through a kind of silent apprenticeship.—
Kristen Roupenian,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 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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As a condition of his release, he will be required to prove any money used to post bond comes from a legitimate source.—
Abby Dodge,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
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The saltwater pools were preserved and the property has brought them back to their natural state, which requires delicately balancing the flora and fauna and salinity levels.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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She’s taken to social media, demanding answers alongside thousands of other West Virginians, including those who have been posting screenshots of their monthly charges.—
Margie Mason,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Apr. 2026
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Analysts say the measures reflect political pressure from small-scale miners, who have staged protests to demand looser regulations, complicating efforts to tighten enforcement.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
11 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cadge.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cadge. Accessed 14 Apr. 2026.
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