Verb

beg the question

1. To engage in the logical fallacy of begging the question (petitio principii).
   • 1994, D. N. Walton, "Begging the question as a pragmatic fallacy." Synthese, vol 100, no 1.

     The objection is that the argument begs the question, meaning that the premise, that God has all the virtues, assumes the conclusion, that God is benevolent.

2. To raise a question. (See Usage notes below.)

   Three people were hurt in the fire at the warehouse last night, which begs the question: what were they doing there in the first place?

Usage notes

The sense "raise a question" has come about by misunderstanding of the meaning of the expression beg the question and is considered nonstandard by linguistic prescriptivists. Careful speakers and writers prefer alternative phrases such as "...which raises the question" or "...which makes you wonder" or "...which begets the question".