abide
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /əˈbaɪd/
  • (America) IPA: /əˈbaɪd/
Verb

abide (abides, present participle abiding; past abode, past participle abode)

  1. (transitive) To endure without yielding; to withstand; await defiantly; to encounter; to persevere. [from mid-12th century]
    The old oak tree abides the wind endlessly.
  2. (transitive) To bear patiently; to tolerate; to put up with; stand. [from late 15th century]
    • c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act III, scene ii], page 87 ↗, column 2:
      Neuer neuer: ſhe would alwayes ſay ſhee could not abide M[aster] Shallow.
  3. (transitive) To pay for; to stand the consequences of; to answer for; to suffer for; to atone for. [from late 16th century]
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708 ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554 ↗:
      Ay me, they little know / How dearly I abide that boaſt ſo vaine, / Under what torments inwardly I groane{{...}
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Ivlivs Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act III, scene ii], page 122 ↗, column 1:
      If it be found ſo, ſome will deere abide it.
  4. Used in a phrasal verb: abide by#English|abide by (“to accept and act in accordance with”).
    The new teacher was strict and the students did not want to abide by his rules.
  5. (intransitive, obsolete) To wait in expectation. [from mid-12th to mid-17th century]
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Genesis 22:5 ↗:
      And Abraham ſaid vnto his yong men, Abide you here with the aſſe, and I and the lad will goe yonder and worſhip, and come againe to you.
  6. (intransitive, obsolete) To pause; to delay. [from c. 1150-1350 to mid-17th century]
  7. (intransitive, archaic) To stay; to continue in a place; to remain stable or fixed in some state or condition; to be left. [from c. 1150-1350]
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, 1 Corinthians 7:20 ↗:
      Let euery man abide in the ſame calling wherein he was called.
  8. (intransitive, archaic) To have one's abode; to dwell; to reside; to sojourn. [from c. 1350-1470]
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Genesis 24:55 ↗:
      And her brother and her mother ſaid, Let the damſell abide with vs a few dayes, at the leaſt ten ; after that, ſhe ſhall goe.
  9. (intransitive, archaic) To endure; to remain; to last. [from c. 1350-1470]
  10. (transitive, archaic) To stand ready for; to await for someone; watch for. [from early 12th century]
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/MaloryWks2/1:15.8?rgn=div2;view=fulltext chapter viij], in Le Morte Darthur, book XIII:
      Allas sayd she that euer I sawe yow / but he that suffred vpon the crosse for alle mankynde he be vnto yow good conduyte and saufte / and alle the hole felauship / Ryght soo departed Launcelot / & fond his felauship that abode his comyng / and so they mounted on their horses / and rode thorou the strete of Camelot
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Acts 20:23 ↗:
      Saue that the holy Ghoſt witneſſeth in euery city, ſaying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
  11. (transitive, obsolete) To endure or undergo a hard trial or a task; to stand up under. [from c. 1150-1350 to early 18th century.]
  12. (transitive, archaic) To await submissively; accept without question; submit to. [from c. 1350-1470.]
Synonyms Related terms Translations Translations Translations
  • German: zahlen (with für)
  • Spanish: afrontar, apechugar con
Translations Translations Translations


This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.006
Offline English dictionary