{ } n. [ F. bégard, béguard; cf. G. beghard, LL. Beghardus, Begihardus, Begardus. Prob. from the root of beguine + -ard or -hard. See Beguine. ] (Eccl. Hist.) One of an association of religious laymen living in imitation of the Beguines. They arose in the thirteenth century, were afterward subjected to much persecution, and were suppressed by Innocent X. in 1650. Called also Beguins. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Beggared p. pr. & vb. n. Beggaring. ] 1. To reduce to beggary; to impoverish; as, he had beggared himself. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cause to seem very poor and inadequate. [ 1913 Webster ]

It beggared all description. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. beggere, fr. beg. ] 1. One who begs; one who asks or entreats earnestly, or with humility; a petitioner. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who makes it his business to ask alms. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One who is dependent upon others for support; -- a contemptuous or sarcastic use. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. One who assumes in argument what he does not prove. Abp. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The condition of being a beggar; also, the class of beggars. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Beggary. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. any of various Eurasian and North American plants having small prickly nutlets that stick to clothing.
Syn. -- beggar's lice, beggar's-lice, beggar lice. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. any of various tropical and subtropical plants having trifoliate leaves and rough sticky pod sections or loments.
Syn. -- tick trefoil, tick-trefoil, beggar's-lice. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The quality or state of being beggarly; meanness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. In the condition of, or like, a beggar; suitable for a beggar; extremely indigent; poverty-stricken; mean; poor; contemptible. “A bankrupt, beggarly fellow.” South. “A beggarly fellowship.” Swift. “Beggarly elements.” Gal. iv. 9. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Produced or occasioned by beggary. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Beggarly sins, that is, those sins which idleness and beggary usually betray men to; such as lying, flattery, stealing, and dissimulation. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an indigent, mean, or despicable manner; in the manner of a beggar. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Bot.) The prickly fruit or seed of certain plants (as some species of Echinospermum and Cynoglossum) which cling to the clothing of those who brush by them. [ 1913 Webster ]

The bur marigold (Bidens) and its achenes, which are armed with barbed awns, and adhere to clothing and fleeces with unpleasant tenacity; -- also called beggar-ticks. [ 1913 Webster ]