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boding

[boh-ding]
noun
  1. a foreboding; omen.
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adjective
  1. foreboding; ominous.
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Origin of boding

before 1000; (noun) Middle English; Old English bodunge announcement (see bode1, -ing1); (adj.) bode1 + -ing2
Related formsbod·ing·ly, adverbnon·bod·ing, adjectivenon·bod·ing·ly, adverbpre·bod·ing, adjectiveun·bod·ing, adjectivewell-bod·ing, adjective

bode

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

bode

2
[bohd]
verb
  1. a simple past tense of bide.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for boding

signify, omen, offer, predict, stop, betoken, forecast, herald, indicate, forebode, foretell, augur, message, portend, presage, foreshow

Examples from the Web for boding

Historical Examples of boding

  • The time was spent in angry altercation, boding no good for the future.

    Short Studies on Great Subjects

    James Anthony Froude

  • Suddenly Mayo saw an ominous sight and heard a boding sound.

  • An answer that fills me with boding apprehension, with foreshadows of despair.

    Past and Present

    Thomas Carlyle

  • The boding speech appears like a prophecy, on the instant realised.

  • The doctor, peering after him with strange, sad eyes, shook a boding head.

    Cursed

    George Allan England

British Dictionary definitions for boding

bode

1
verb
  1. to be an omen of (good or ill, esp of ill); portend; presage
  2. (tr) archaic to predict; foretell
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Derived Formsboding, noun, adjectivebodement, noun

Word Origin for bode

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

bode

2
verb
  1. the past tense of bide
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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 boding

bode

v.

Old English bodian "proclaim, announce; foretell," from boda "messenger," probably from Proto-Germanic *budon- (cf. Old Saxon gibod, German gebot, Old Norse boð), from PIE *bheudh- "be aware, make aware" (see bid (v.)). As a shortened form of forebode (usually evil), it dates from 1740. Related: Boded; boding.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper