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definitions

bide

[bahyd]
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verb (used with object), bid·ed or bode; bid·ed or (Archaic) bid; bid·ing.

Archaic. to endure; bear.
Obsolete. to encounter.

verb (used without object), bid·ed or bode; bid·ed or (Archaic) bid; bid·ing.

to dwell; abide; wait; remain.

Idioms

    bide one's time, to wait for a favorable opportunity: He wanted to ask for a raise, but bided his time.

Origin of bide

before 900; Middle English biden, Old English bīdan; cognate with Old Frisian bīdia, Old Saxon bīdan, Old High German bītan, Old Norse bītha, Gothic beidan, Latin fīdere, Greek peíthesthai to trust, rely < Indo-European *bheidh-; the meaning apparently developed: have trust > endure > wait > abide > remain
Related formsbid·er, noun

Synonyms for bide

3. stay, linger, tarry.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bides

dwell, reside, await, attend, linger, tarry, live, abide, stay, remain, continue

Examples from the Web for bides

Contemporary Examples of bides

Historical Examples of bides

  • The warst o' 't is I canna tell wha she is or whaur she bides.'

    Robert Falconer

    George MacDonald

  • So with my wife to Mile End, and there drank of Bides ale, and so home.

  • He's a civil young chap now, and that's more than he'll be long if he bides with thee.

    The Water-Babies

    Charles Kingsley

  • If they puts her anywhere, there she bides, and don't try for to do nothing.

    Memoirs of a Surrey Labourer

    George Sturt (AKA George Bourne)

  • He has infinite faith in a deep compensating future, and bides his time.

British Dictionary definitions for bides

bide

verb bides, biding, bided, bode or bided

(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
Often shortened to: (Scot) byde

Word Origin for bide

Old English bīdan; related to Old Norse bītha to wait, Gothic beidan, Old High German bītan
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for bides

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper