abide by

Idioms  

1. Accept and act in accordance with a decision or set of rules; also, remain faithful to. For example, All members must agree to abide by the club regulations, or A trustworthy man abides by his word. An older sense of the verb abide, “remain,” is still familiar in the well-known 19th-century hymn “Abide with Me,” which asks God to stay with the singer in time of trouble. [Early 1500s]

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Example Sentences

While most tech companies have pledged to abide by Australian laws, they have warned that the heavy-handed move could simply push teens to darker, less-regulated corners of the internet.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

If she wishes to continue to receive your financial support, it makes sense that she should abide by your rules.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 26, 2026

Rules of engagement are typically in place to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties, abide by international law, and prevent friendly-fire incidents.

From Salon • Mar. 14, 2026

Google famously exited the Chinese internet search market in 2010 after deciding it wasn’t comfortable censoring results to abide by the government’s censorship rules.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 3, 2026

He never declared which of these times we were to abide by, however—which was curious, considering how much he’d talked about the importance of designating a hard deadline and sticking to it no matter what.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer