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Glite Dictionary
to beg on one's knees

to beg on one's knees

1 7.0
Ask someone for help or forgiveness while kneeling and looking very desperate
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : suplicar
  • Feeling hopeless, she approached the judge and begged on her knees for mercy.

Examples

  • I mean, you don't want me to beg on my knees, do you?

    Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986)

  • In a moment of desperation, she had to beg on her knees for forgiveness.

  • He was so afraid of losing the job that he decided to beg on his knees for another chance.

Synonyms

to beg
vsto beg on one's knees
417 1.0

Ask someone very seriously and urgently for something

is humbler and often shows submissive posture and deep need
to pray
vsto beg on one's knees
  • Archaic
256 1.6

To beg someone urgently and humbly for something

is more physical and shows urgent submissive desperation
to plead
vsto beg on one's knees
232 3.9

Ask someone urgently and emotionally for something

is humbler and may include physical submission and urgency
to solicit
vsto beg on one's knees
  • Formal
48 6.8

To ask people for something, often in a formal or persistent way

is humbler and more desperate, not just formal or persistent
to beseech
vsto beg on one's knees
  • Formal
47 8.2

To ask someone earnestly for something

is humbler and shows submissive pleading rather than fervor
to implore
vsto beg on one's knees
  • Formal
40 5.3

To ask someone very seriously to do or not do something

is more humble and shows submissive appeal rather than raw urgency
to cry out for
vsto beg on one's knees
26 4.1

To urgently need something

is the active humble appeal directed to a person, not only need
to entreat
vsto beg on one's knees
  • Formal
12 8.1

Ask someone in a serious, emotional way to do something

is humbler and more submissive, showing deep desperation
to supplicate
vsto beg on one's knees
  • Formal
3 9.6

To beg someone, often in prayer, for help or favor

is more physical and desperate, showing urgent submissive appeal
to cry for
vsto beg on one's knees
3 4.1

To need something urgently

is a humble, direct appeal to a person rather than mere need
to mump
vsto beg on one's knees
  • Archaic
9.9

To beg for food or money

is humbler and expresses urgent, submissive plea rather than casual requests

Antonyms

to refuse
716 1.7

To say no to a request or offer

to stand firm
22 3.7

Keep your decision or opinion when others try to make you change

How Desperate

to beg on one's knees
  • Informal
1 7.0
to beg
417 1.0
to plead
232 3.9
to ask
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

beg on one's knees infinitive
begged on one's knees past
begged on one's knees past participle
begging on one's knees present participle
begs on one's knees third person singular

Morphology

beg + on + one's + knee

The meaning 'to plead earnestly and humbly' is directly derivable from combining 'beg' (to plead) with the literal posture 'on one's knees' (a posture of supplication), so a B1 learner who knows the words will infer the idiom. This is a common, compositional image-based construction found across many languages, making the expression transparently interpretable.

Etymology

Beg on one's knees may come from a time when people knelt before a king or judge, put their knees on the ground and beg for mercy or help. So it means 'to plead earnestly and humbly'.