betide
Americanverb (used with object)
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betides,
present (3rd person singular)
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betided,
past participle, past
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betiding
present participle
verb (used without object)
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betides,
present (3rd person singular)
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betided,
past participle, past
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betiding
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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betidesimple
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betidessimple
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have betidedperfect
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has betidedperfect
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am betidingprogressive
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are betidingprogressive
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is betidingprogressive
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have been betidingperfect progressive
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has been betidingperfect progressive
Past
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betidedsimple
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had betidedperfect
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was betidingprogressive
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were betidingprogressive
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had been betidingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of betide
First recorded in 1125–75, betide is from the Middle English word betiden. See be-, tide 2
Explanation
When something betides you, it happens to you. Betide is a literary way of saying “happen,” like in this quote from Jane Austin’s Persuasion, “Woe betide him, and her too, when it comes to things of consequence….” This is an old-fashioned word for things happening, especially uncertain or negative things. This word often appears with woe as in "Woe betide all who date my sister!" Which means, basically, something bad will happen to you if you date her. If you say, "What will the new day betide?" it means, "What will happen tomorrow?" Betide means about the same thing as bechance and befall. We all want good things to betide us.
Vocabulary lists containing betide
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
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The Jungle Book
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"The Tempest," Vocabulary from Acts 1 and 2
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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.
See Examples For:
And woe betide you if you haven’t prepared as well as she has.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Woe betide the philistine who requests a salt shaker or asks that a meticulously prepared dish be spice-bombed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Woe betide anyone who didn't meet Amorim's standards.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2025
But woe betide anyone who tried to give her out-of-season berries.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 21, 2022
Etymologically, “invective” is a cavalry charge, and when Cicero hit a gallop, woe betide whoever was in the way.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
But I have to wonder if, whatever betides, I can stay upbeat in spirit.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 16, 2019
It fails to mention Ogden Nash's "One rule which woe betides the banker who fails to heed it,/ Which is you must never lend any money to anybody unless they don't need it."
From Time Magazine Archive
It is a strange thing, and men often say it betides ill; but I have no knowledge of mine own.
From The Sign of the Red Cross by Evelyn Everett-Green
Generations may not see it; but woe betides the States implicated in this oppression, when that day shall dawn; and the longer it tarries the greater the woe.
From Three Prize Essays on American Slavery by A.C. Baldwin
Old meerschaum pipe, I'll fondly wipe Thy scarred and blackened form, For thou to me wilt ever be— Whate'er betides the storm— A casket filled with memories Of life's Auroral morn.
From Pipe and Pouch The Smoker's Own Book of Poetry by Various
He told them what had betided him and themseemed, by the host's counsel, that he were best depart Naples incontinent.
From The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio by John Payne
These were anchored a hundred yards from shore, and Brian saw the danger that betided as the stream of fugitives swept down toward the boats.
From Nuala O'Malley by H. Bedford-Jones
They bade Rose remain in the garden for the next few hours, and they would hide in a clump of bushes at the corner and watch what betided.
From Tom Tufton's Travels by Evelyn Everett-Green
Betide, betided or betid, betiding, betided or betid.
From The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown
Her thoughts were with all that had betided in the past and what might have been.
From The Ordeal A Mountain Romance of Tennessee by Douglas Duer
There was an Ark with scrolls of the Law in the room, betiding a piety and a purse beyond the normal.
From Ghetto Comedies by Israel Zangwill
And hence their quiet looks confiding, Hence grateful instincts seated deep, By whose strong bond, were ill betiding, They'd risk their own his life to keep.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 38, December, 1860 by Various
For prairie and mountain, windswept and high, For betiding beauty of earth and sky— Say a benediction e'er you pass by.
From The Miracle and Other Poems by Virna Sheard
The death of my son betiding while my soul was under this anxiety, I thought of nothing but resigning my dominions, and retiring for ever from the sight of mankind.
From Shorter Novels, Eighteenth Century The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia; The Castle of Otranto, a Gothic Story; Vathek, an Arabian Tale by William Beckford
Betide, betided or betid, betiding, betided or betid.
From The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown
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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.
