What does cadge mean?
To cadge is to obtain something — usually small and inexpensive — by asking for it rather than paying for it, in a manner that leans on someone else's goodwill. Someone who cadges a lift, a cigarette, or a meal is not stealing, but they are not buying either; they are exploiting a friend's or stranger's generosity, often repeatedly. The verb is informal and carries a faintly disapproving tone: it implies sponginess or freeloading rather than honest need. It appears most often in British English, though it is widely understood elsewhere; American speakers more commonly reach for "mooch" or "scrounge." Typical pairings include "cadge a lift," "cadge a ride," and "cadge a cigarette." The word's origins are murky, though it may derive from an earlier term connected to carrying or conveying goods, and it shares its form with a falconry term for a frame used to transport hawks. As a word, it fills a precise gap in everyday vocabulary — naming that familiar, slightly embarrassing act of getting something for nothing through sheer persistence.
To obtain something by asking for it persistently rather than paying for it, in a way that takes advantage of another's generosity; to scrounge.
"He managed to cadge a sandwich off his flatmate before heading out."
Informal; often used transitively with phrases like "cadge a lift" or "cadge a cigarette."
In falconry, a circular frame on which hawks are carried to the field.
"The falconer loaded each hawk onto the cadge before walking out onto the moor."
Archaic and specialist usage, now largely confined to historical texts about falconry.
Applies only to the falconry noun sense, which is archaic and rarely encountered outside specialist literature.
"The museum displayed several antique cadges alongside the falconry equipment."
In falconry, a 'cadge' is also a portable rack used to carry hawks into the field — one of the few words that means both a group of birds and a shameless request for free stuff.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cadge
The verb "cadge," first recorded in the early seventeenth century, has an uncertain origin, though it likely developed from an older sense relating to carrying or transporting goods — perhaps from a dialectal or Middle English word for a carrier's frame or basket. Its modern meaning of obtaining things by begging emerged gradually from this notion of conveying or hauling. Separately, falconers use "cadge" as a noun for a rotating frame on which hawks are carried into the field, a sense borrowed from Old French and Occitan sources.
Related word forms
How cadge is actually used
"Cadge" carries a mildly disapproving, informal connotation — it suggests freeloading rather than dignified begging, and it implies repeated or habitual sponging rather than a one-off polite request. It is common in British English and well understood in American English, where "mooch" or "scrounge" are more frequent alternatives.
Easily confused with cadge
A cage is an enclosure for confining animals, whereas to cadge is to scrounge or beg things from others.
A codger is an eccentric old man, while cadge is a verb meaning to obtain things by begging.