bidden
Americanverb
adjective
verb
Etymology
Origin of bidden
First recorded in 1610–20, for the adjective
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.
Now if there is anything mortifying to our feelings when we are young, it is to be told that, and to be bidden to “run away, dear” is still more trying to us.
From Literature
There were no relatives at hand; and as Arthur had to be back the next day to attend at his father’s funeral, we were unable to notify any one who should have been bidden.
From Literature
He knew the flood would come, and he had bidden his son build the chest, store it with provisions, and embark in it with his wife.
From Literature
It’s as if black people are being bidden to look up from the groundwork of daily living by the very forces that made our single-minded focus necessary.
From The Guardian
Still, as the religion of the Perfect Woman teaches, “it is man’s chiefest honour to be chosen: his highest duty to give, wherever bidden, his love, his devotion, and his loyalty.”
From Washington Post
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.