bestead

[ bih-sted ]

/ bɪˈstɛd /

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verb (used with object), be·stead·ed, be·stead·ed or be·stead, be·stead·ing.

to help; assist; serve; avail.

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Origin of bestead

First recorded in 1575–85; be- + stead

Words nearby bestead

best-ball foursome, best-ball match, best bib and tucker, best boy, best-case, bestead, best-efforts selling, best end, bestest, best friend, best girl

Other definitions for bestead (2 of 2)

bestead²

[ bih-sted ]

/ bɪˈstɛd /

adjective

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

Origin of bestead

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

How to use bestead in a sentence

There was hardly to be found in all Southern Tennessee a more contented, shiftless, ill-bestead family than theirs.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
She said presently: Habundia, thou seest I am hard bestead; give me some good rede thereto.
The Water of the Wondrous Isles|William Morris
Thus, on all hands, I seemed to myself as sore bestead as ever man was, and on no side saw any hope of succour.
A Monk of Fife|Andrew Lang
Then were they all three on foot, and ever they saw the hart afore them passing weary and hard bestead.
Stories of King Arthur and His Knights|U. Waldo Cutler

But Joseph and Hyrum were harder bestead than ever I have been; and bolder men to boot.
From Sea to Sea|Rudyard Kipling