bestead
1 Americanverb (used with object)
adjective
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
We are hungry and faint, and will only shoot the deer for food, for we are hard bestead and in great danger.”
From Hero-Myths & Legends of the British Race by M. I. (Maud Isabel) Ebbutt
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 he called to mind that great saying of Goll mac Morna when they were once sore bestead by a mighty host.
From Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race by T. W. (Thomas William) Rolleston
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
By what magic is it that the cry of Odysseus, wounded and hard bestead in his retreat before the Trojans, comes over us like the three blasts of the horn of Roland?
From Epic and Romance Essays on Medieval Literature by W. P. Ker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
