budge
/bʌd͡ʒ/verb, noun
budge is spelled B-U-D-G-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,516th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, budge means “To move; to be shifted from a fixed position” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in budge?
| Letters | 5: B-U-D-G-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.7 times per million words; the 21,516th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is budge?
Budge appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,516th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce budge?
- UK /bʌd͡ʒ/
Budge has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-budge.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with budge?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as budge (/ʌdʒ/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: debug.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of budge
- budges present, singular, he/she/it
- budging participle, present
- budged participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does budge mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
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
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
To yield in one’s opinions or beliefs.
The Minister for Finance refused to budge on the new economic rules.
- 4
CanadaTo 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
To try to improve the spot of a decision on a sports field.
noun
- 1
A kind of fur prepared from lambskin dressed with the wool on, formerly used as an edging and ornament, especially on scholastic habits.
- 2
obsoleteslangAlcoholic drink.
adjective
- 1
obsoleteaustere or stiff, like scholastics
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Budge in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense intransitive: to move:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bouger |
| German | von der Stelle rühren, vom Fleck bewegen, regen |
| Portuguese | mover-se |
| Spanish | mover |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does budge come 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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).