Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To remain in a condition or state.
  • intransitive verb To wait; tarry.
  • intransitive verb To stay.
  • intransitive verb To be left; remain.
  • intransitive verb To await; wait for.
  • idiom (bide (one's) time) To wait for further developments.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To remain in expectation; wait.
  • To be or remain in a place or state; wait.
  • To dwell; reside.
  • To wait for; await.
  • To endure; suffer; bear.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To encounter; to remain firm under (a hardship); to endure; to suffer; to undergo.
  • transitive verb To wait for. See Abide.
  • intransitive verb To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay.
  • intransitive verb To remain; to continue or be permanent in a place or state; to continue to be.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive (chiefly dialectal) To bear; to endure; to tolerate.
  • verb intransitive (archaic or dialectal) To dwell or reside in a location; to abide.
  • verb intransitive (archaic or dialectal) To wait; to be in expectation; to stay; to remain.
  • verb transitive (archaic) To wait for; to await.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb dwell

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English biden, from Old English bīdan; see bheidh- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English biden, from Old English bīdan ("to stay, continue, live, remain, delay; wait for, await, expect; endure, experience, find; attain, obtain; own"), from Proto-Germanic *bīdanan (“to wait”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- (“to command, persuade, compel, trust”). Latinate cognates (via PIE) include faith and fidelity.

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Examples

Comments

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  • Scots - remain.

    August 2, 2008

  • The Dude abides.

    September 25, 2008