budge

Etymology 1

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.

verb

1. (intransitive) 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.
   Yet goals in either half from Jordi Gómez and James Perch inspired them and then, in the face of a relentless City onslaught, they simply would not budge, throwing heart, body and soul in the way of a ball which seemed destined for their net on several occasions. 9 March 2014, Jacob Steinberg, “Wigan shock Manchester City in FA Cup again to reach semi-finals”, in The Guardian
2. (transitive) 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.
   If only I could get Ambrose to take me away somewhere! But he won't budge. 1933, Richard Curle, Corruption, page 75
4. (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, western Canada) To 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.

Etymology 2

From Middle English bouge, bougie, bugee, from Anglo-Norman bogé, from Anglo-Latin *bogea, bulgia, related to Latin bulga (“a leathern bag or knapsack”). Doublet of bulge.

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.
   They are become so liberal, as to part freely with their own budge-gowns from off their backs. 1649, John Milton, Observations
   One hundred pieces of green silk for the Knights; fourteen budge furs for surcoats; thirteen hoods of budge for clerks, and seventy furs of lamb for liveries in summer. 1787, An Historical and Chronological Deduction of the Origin of Commerce, page 282

adj

1. (obsolete) austere or stiff, like scholastics
   The solemn fop; significant and budge; A fool with judges, amongst fools a judge, He says but little and that little said, 'Owes all its weight, like loaded dice, to lead. 1784, John Wesley, The Magazine of the Wesleyan Methodist Church - Volume 7, page 393
   "My boy looked at me very budge," i.e., solemn. 1931, The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art, page 684