Other forms: budged
To budge is to move even slightly from where you are stuck. The word lives in the negative: the wardrobe wouldn't budge, the lid won't budge, the cat refuses to budge from the warm chair.
That negative habit is the thing to learn. You would say the box moved, not the box budged, yet "the box wouldn't budge" is perfectly natural. The second use is about opinions: neither side would budge on the price, and he hasn't budged an inch since Tuesday. In British English, budge up (or budge over) is what you say to someone on a bench when you want to sit down. It is an informal word — a report would say the two sides made no concessions.
1verbbudgeTo move slightly from a fixed position, or to make something move.
“All three of them pushed, but the piano wouldn't budge.”
synonyms: shift
2verbchangeTo change your opinion or position, or to make someone change theirs.
“The landlord refused to budge on the rent.”
3verbseatTo move along on a seat to make room for someone. Used as budge up or budge over.
“Budge up a bit so Sam can sit down.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
Budge came from Middle French bouger, and behind that Old French bougier and the Vulgar Latin bullico, "to bubble, seethe, stir", from Latin bullio, "to boil". The wardrobe that will not shift traces back to a pot on the fire. The Latin was about water stirring and heaving, and the sense narrowed until it meant the smallest movement there is.
Proto-Indo-European
*bew-
Latin
bullio — to boil; seethe; roil
Vulgar Latin
*bullico — to bubble; seethe; move; stir
Old French
bougier
Middle French
bouger
English, today
budge
Borrowed from Middle French bouger, from Old French bougier, from Vulgar Latin bullico (“to bubble; seethe; move; stir”), from Latin bullio (“to boil; seethe; roil”). More at boil.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA