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Synonyms

bide one's time

Idioms  

  1. Wait for the opportune moment, as in The cat sat in front of the mousehole, biding its time. This phrase employs the verb to bide in the sense of “to wait for,” a usage dating from about a.d. 950 and surviving mainly in this locution.

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.

Her tactics even earned their own verb: “Merkeln,” meaning to dither or bide one’s time.

From Washington Post

Her approach even earned its own verb: “Merkeln,” meaning to dither or bide one’s time.

From Washington Post

Vladimir: One can bide one’s time.

From Washington Post

For years, after its emergence from hard-line Marxism in the late 1980s, China stuck to reformist leader Deng Xiaoping’s dictum to “keep a low profile and bide one’s time, while also getting things done.”

From Seattle Times

To bide one's time may mean a considerable saving.

From Project Gutenberg

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.