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budge

/bʌdʒ//bʌdʒ/·verb
to move slightly — used almost always of things that will not
Fig. 1 — The bulldozer arrives with its blade down and its mind made up: tracks bite, the stack chuffs, the whole machine leans into the boulder with everything it has — and the boulder considers it.
01Definition

To budge is to move the smallest real amount — and English keeps the word almost entirely for the failure of that: the jar will not budge, the markets refuse to budge, he would not budge an inch. From French bouger, 'to stir', the verb is a negative-polarity specialist; nobody praises a door for budging. It transfers straight to people and positions, where refusing to budge means refusing the smallest concession, and British English adds the friendly imperative budge up — shift along and make room.

02In use
  • iTwo of them leaned on the crowbar, and the slab did not budge.
  • iiPrices refused to budge even as demand began to surge.
  • iiiHe would not budge on the deadline, however carefully they tried to convince him.
03Collocations
  • refuse to budge
  • won't budge
  • not budge an inch
  • budge up
  • never budged

Family budge (verb only — no common derivatives)

04Relations

=shift, stir, give way, yield, relent

≠stay put, hold firm, stand fast

06TOEFL & IELTS

A speaking-test gem rather than an essay word: 'the authorities wouldn't budge' compresses a whole negotiation into four words, and examiners hear idiomatic control. Grammar note worth knowing cold: budge lives in negative and near-negative frames — will not budge, refused to budge, barely budged — and sounds off in plain affirmatives. British listening materials may throw you budge up ('make room'); American speakers say scoot over instead.

07Asked
What does 'it won't budge' mean?
That the thing will not move at all, despite real effort — a stuck lid, a jammed window, a filing cabinet with opinions. The phrase always implies force already applied and defeated: you only say it after trying. It extends smoothly to people and institutions, where 'they won't budge' means no concession of any size is coming.
What does 'budge up' mean?
British informal for 'move along and make room' — said to someone on a bench or sofa: 'Budge up, let me sit down.' Friendly, not rude, and interchangeable with shove up or scoot over (the American choice). It is the one context where budge escapes its negative habitat and works as a cheerful imperative.
Is budge always used in the negative?
Almost — linguists file it as a negative-polarity item, comfortable only with not, never, refuse, barely and their relatives. 'The rock wouldn't budge' is natural; 'the rock budged' sounds like a missing punchline. The near-exceptions keep the negativity implied: 'see if you can make it budge' still expects failure. In the scene above, two full-throttle pushes buy the boulder two thumb-widths past its chalk line — the exact currency this verb deals in.
Is budge related to budget?
No — a lookalike pair with separate passports. Budge comes from French bouger, 'to stir', tracing back to Latin bullire, 'to boil' (things that boil, move). Budget comes from bougette, 'a little leather bag', the pouch a treasurer carried accounts in. So a chancellor who won't budge on the budget is using two unrelated words that just happen to rhyme in history.
What is the difference between budge and move?
Scale and attitude. Move is neutral and unlimited; budge is the smallest possible movement, mentioned only to report its absence. 'The car moved' is a fact; 'the car wouldn't budge' is a defeat. That is why budge takes no real distances — the only measure it accepts is the minimiser 'an inch', and only to deny it: you can move three metres, but you can only fail to budge an inch. Reach for it whenever effort met immovability.