bide

verb

ˈbīd 

bode ˈbōd  or bided; bided; biding

transitive verb

1

past tense usually bided : to wait for

—used chiefly in the phrase bide one's time

is biding his time before asking for a raise

2

archaic : withstand

two men … might bide the winter storm

—W. C. Bryant

3

chiefly dialectal : to put up with : tolerate

… couldn't bide children on his place …

—J. W. Riley

intransitive verb

1

: to continue in a state or condition

bide still a moment

2

: to wait awhile : tarry

3

: to continue in a place : sojourn

bide in a cabin

bider noun

Synonyms

• abide
• continue
• endure
• hold on
• hold up
• keep up
• last
• perdure
• persist
• remain
• run on

Examples of bide in a Sentence

how long are you going to bide in this unhappy marriage?

at my advanced age I simply cannot bide young children

Recent Examples on the Web

And then there are the hot players that are biding their time. —Evan Clark, WWD, 6 Jan. 2025

Kroenke had to bide his time before launching his master plan in Denver. —Bennett Durando, The Denver Post, 5 Jan. 2025

Future: 16 Wheeler: The acquisition of Akira Schmid (who is still just 24 despite having played in the NHL the last three years because of his bizarre USHL-to-NHL/AHL jump) bides some time for the Golden Knights’ quartet of decent prospects. —Scott Wheeler, The Athletic, 24 July 2024

Beside the sizzling burger, a little foil packet of sliced onions bided its time, getting a squirt or two of probably Worcestershire. —Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 20 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English biden "to stay, linger, wait expectantly, hope for, undergo," going back to Old English bīdan, past bād, bidon, past participle biden, going back to Germanic *bīðan- (whence also Old Saxon bīdan "to wait, stand ready, hold out," Old High German bītan "to wait, expect," Old Norse bíða "to wait for, suffer, undergo," Gothic beidan "to wait for, endure"), perhaps going back to Indo-European *b^hei̯d- "entrust, trust" — more at faith entry 1

Note: The argument has been made, most notably by Émile Benveniste (Le vocabulaire des institutions indo-européennes, Paris, 1969, tome 1, pp. 119-20), that in Germanic an older sense "place one's trust in something" developed into "expect with confidence, wait for" and then "undergo, endure"—though this hypothesis has not been universally accepted.

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Kids Definition

bide

verb

ˈbīd 

bode ˈbōd  or bided; bided; biding

: to wait or wait for

bided his time before acting