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.
My poor child!" said the lady "you have been hardly bestead, I think.
From The Wide, Wide World by Susan Warner
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
And for he was far and fremd bestead Yslain he should have be.
From Fifteenth Century Prose and Verse by Various
Sir Gernot," said Rudeger ill bestead, "That you were safe in Rhineland, and I with honor dead!
From The Nibelungenlied Revised Edition by Unknown
If I ain’t the worst bestead woman in the world!
From The Sun Maid A Story of Fort Dearborn by Evelyn Raymond
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
