bide
- Archaic. to endure; bear.
- Obsolete. to encounter.
- to dwell; abide; wait; remain.
- bide one's time, to wait for a favorable opportunity: He wanted to ask for a raise, but bided his time.
Origin of bide
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comExamples from the Web for bide
Contemporary Examples
While Democrats bide their time, Republicans are already spending time and building operations in the Hawkeye State.
Rather, one would think now would be an ideal moment for a grateful ally to ramp it down and bide their time.
Bide your time with some of the most impressive public displays of Les Miserables love.
If a culture has to be grown, then you have to bide your time while cell division takes its course.
The bloodthirsty Young Turks of Bohane bide their time, waiting in the shadows to shank and supplant their revelry-addled elders.
Must Reads: Kennedy, Sontag and Paris, ‘A Partial History of Lost Causes,’ ‘City of Bohane,’ ‘Flatscreen’Lauren Elkin, Mythili Rao, Drew Toal, Nicholas Mancusi
April 6, 2012
Historical Examples
"The danger may bide," said he, shrugging his broad shoulders.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
Here I am, and here I bide, while God gives me strength to lift a sword.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
In sooth, it is bad for those who fall, but worse for those who bide behind.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
Here I must bide, and talk and sew and spin, and spin and sew and talk.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
If we bide here, who knows that some fresh tumult may not break out.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
bide
- (intr) archaic, or dialect to continue in a certain place or state; stay
- (intr) archaic, or dialect to live; dwell
- (tr) archaic, or dialect to tolerate; endure
- bide a wee Scot to stay a little
- bide by Scot to abide by
- bide one's time to wait patiently for an opportunity
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for bide
v.
Old English bidan "to stay, continue, live, remain," also "to trust, rely" (cognate with Old Norse biða, Old Saxon bidan, Old Frisian bidia, Middle Dutch biden, Old High German bitan, Gothic beidan "to wait"), apparently from PIE *bheidh-, an extended stem of one root of Old English biddan (see bid (v.)), the original sense of which was "to command," and "to trust" (cf. Greek peithein "to persuade," pistis "faith;" Latin fidere "to trust," foedus "compact, treaty," Old Church Slavonic beda "need"). Perhaps the sense evolved in prehistoric times through "endure," and "endure a wait," to "to wait." Preserved in Scotland and northern England, replaced elsewhere by abide in all senses except to bide one's time. Related: Bided; biding.