bode

1
[ bohd ]
See synonyms for: bodeboding on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),bod·ed, bod·ing.
  1. to be an omen of; portend: The news bodes evil days for him.

  2. Archaic. to announce beforehand; predict.

verb (used without object),bod·ed, bod·ing.
  1. to portend: The news bodes well for him.

Origin of bode

1
before 1000; Middle English boden,Old English bodian to announce, foretell (cognate with Old Norse botha), derivative of boda messenger, cognate with German Bote,Old Norse bothi

Other definitions for bode (2 of 2)

bode2
[ bohd ]

verb
  1. a simple past tense of bide.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bode in a sentence

  • What Tom was saying came to the ears of Mark, and a look came into his face which boded no good to Tom.

  • They were sharp-eyed, athletic-looking men, whose appearance on the island boded no good to one Craigie, alias Kemble.

    The Rival Campers | Ruel Perley Smith
  • I trembled, I knew not why, but I fancied that the visits of M. de Monsoreau boded me no good.

    Chicot the Jester | Alexandre Dumas, Pere
  • Master rose the nex morning with a dismal countinants—he seamed to think that his pa's visit boded him no good.

    Memoirs of Mr. Charles J. Yellowplush | William Makepeace Thackeray
  • This onset boded destruction to herself and all her friends; above all, to him she loved best.

British Dictionary definitions for bode (1 of 2)

bode1

/ (bəʊd) /


verb
  1. to be an omen of (good or ill, esp of ill); portend; presage

  2. (tr) archaic to predict; foretell

Origin of bode

1
Old English bodian; related to Old Norse botha to proclaim, Old Frisian bodia to invite

Derived forms of bode

  • boding, noun, adjective
  • bodement, noun

British Dictionary definitions for bode (2 of 2)

bode2

/ (bəʊd) /


verb
  1. the past tense of bide

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