WORD OF THE DAY
abide / verb / uh-BYDE
Definition
1a: to bear patiently
1b: tolerate
1c: to endure without yielding
1d: withstand
2: to wait for; await
3: to accept without objection
4: to remain stable or fixed in a state
5a: to continue in a place
5b: sojourn
Examples
Susan has been a vegetarian for years and can no longer abide even the smell of cooked meat.
"They plainly abided a situation that was intolerable, and they shouldn't have done it."
— Robert F. Bauer, The New York Times, 20 Feb. 2018
Did You Know?
Abide may sound rather old-fashioned these days. The word has been around since before the 12th century, but it is a bit rare now, except in certain specialized uses. Even more archaic to our modern ear is abidden, the original past participle of abide.
Today, both the past tense and the past participle of abide are served by either abode or abided, with abided being the more frequent choice. Abide turns up often in the phrase "can't (or couldn't) abide."
The expression abide by, which means "to conform to" or "to acquiesce in," is also common. Related terms include the participial adjective abiding (which means "enduring" or "continuing," as in "an abiding interest in nature"), the noun abidance ("continuance" or "compliance"), and the noun abode ("residence").
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