beggar description

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English

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Etymology

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Coined by William Shakespeare in 1607 in "Antony and Cleopatra," act 2, scene 2:

For her own person,
It beggared all description: she did lie
In her pavilion—cloth-of-gold, of tissue—
O'erpicturing that Venus where we see
The fancy outwork nature.

Verb

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beggar description (third-person singular simple present beggars description, present participle beggaring description, simple past and past participle beggared description)

  1. Synonym of beggar belief

Further reading

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