bestead

¹ American  

[bih-sted] / bɪˈstɛd /

verb (used with object)

besteaded, besteaded, bestead, besteading

1. to help; assist; serve; avail.

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bestead ² American  

[bih-sted] / bɪˈstɛd /

adjective

1. Archaic. placed or situated, often unfavorably or in difficulty.

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Etymology

Origin of bestead¹

First recorded in 1575–85; be- + stead

Origin of bestead²

1300–50; Middle English bisted, bistad, equivalent to bi be- + sted, variant of stad placed < Old Norse staddr, past participle of stethja to place, derivative of stathr place

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bestead

But Joseph and Hyrum were harder bestead than ever I have been; and bolder men to boot.

From From Sea to Sea Letters of Travel by Rudyard Kipling

And for he was far and fremd bestead Yslain he should have be.

From Fifteenth Century Prose and Verse by Various

Downy pillow take thy head, Silken coverlet bestead, Sunshine help thy sleeping!

From Heads and Tales : or, Anecdotes and Stories of Quadrupeds and Other Beasts, Chiefly Connected with Incidents in the Histories of More or Less Distinguished Men. by Adam White

But the occasional honest mechanic or skilled workman in search of employment was hard bestead.

From The Making Of A Novelist An Experiment In Autobiography by David Christie Murray

Then let’s be merry in our God and King, That made us merry, being ill bestead.

From A Life of William Shakespeare with portraits and facsimiles by Sir Sidney Lee