Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To put up with; tolerate: can't abide such incompetence. See Synonyms at bear1.
- v. To wait patiently for: "I will abide the coming of my lord” ( Tennyson).
- v. To withstand: a thermoplastic that will abide rough use and great heat.
- v. To remain in a place.
- v. To continue to be sure or firm; endure. See Synonyms at stay1.
- v. To dwell or sojourn.
- idiom. abide by To conform to; comply with: abide by the rules; had to abide by the judge's decision.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To wait for; especially, to stand one's ground against.
- To await; be in store for.
- To endure or sustain; remain firm under.
- To put up with; tolerate.
- To encounter; undergo: in a jocular sense.
- To have one's abode; dwell; reside.
- To remain; continue to stay.
- To continue in a certain condition; remain steadfast or faithful.
- To wait; stop; delay.
- To inhere; belong as an attribute or quality; have its seat.
- To pay the price or penalty of; suffer for.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. obsolete To wait; to pause; to delay.
- v. To stay; to continue in a place; to have one's abode; to dwell; to sojourn; -- with
with before a person, and commonly withat orin before a place. - v. To remain stable or fixed in some state or condition; to continue; to remain.
- v. To wait for; to be prepared for; to await; to watch for.
- v. To endure; to sustain; to submit to.
- v. To bear patiently; to tolerate; to put up with.
- v. To stand the consequences of; to answer for; to suffer for.
WordNet 3.0
- v. put up with something or somebody unpleasant
- v. dwell.
Etymologies
- From Middle English abiden, from Old English ābīdan ("to abide, wait, remain, delay, remain behind; survive; wait for, await; expect"), from Proto-Germanic *uzbīdanan (“to expect, tolerate”), equivalent to a- + bide. Cognate with Scots abyde ("to abide, remain"), Middle High German erbīten ("to await, expect"), Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌱𐌴𐌹𐌳𐌰𐌽 (usbeidan, "to expect, await, have patience"). The sense of pay for is due to influence from aby. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English abiden, from Old English ābīdan : ā-, intensive pref. + bīdan, to remain; see bheidh- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“IV. iii.99 (330,4) [abide] To _abide_, here, must signify, to _sojourn_, to live for a time without a settled habitation.”
“The tough part seems to come in knowing how to abide or what the word abide really means.”
“Corruption isn't everything: Americans can forgive rascals who manage to win -- look at Bill Clinton -- but what they cannot abide is losers.”
“Hunter's choice of the word abide brings to mind the 1847 poem Abide With Me by Henry F. Lyte:”
“What they do not expect, and will not abide, is the sort of harsh, demanding regimen necessary to produce disciplined and effective soldiers.”
“Abide in me, and let my word abide in you; then ye shall ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
“If ye abide in Me, and My word abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
“If ye abide in me, and my word abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
“No; factum non dicitur quod non perseverat -- that which does not abide is not said to be done.”
“The word is the same -- 'abide' -- which is so often upon his lips in his Gospel and in his Epistles, as expressive of the innermost experience of the Christian soul, the condition of all fruitfulness, blessedness, knowledge and Christ - likeness.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘abide’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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EN - archaic words
abide, abjure, abroad, adamant, afield, aforetime, aghast, anon, apace, argent, assuage, aught and 328 more...
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RELI - Genesis
Protagonists and relevant words in the Book of Creation (Source: King James Bible)
Laban, circumcise, beget, Esau, Rebekah, speckle, Sodom, Pharaoh, Canaanite, Canaan, Jacob, Lot and 1286 more...
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A to abominator (Chambers)
aa gets over 40 hits
aardvark 49 hits
abbatoir 103 hits
abjure 138 hitsA, A-line, A-list, A-lister, A 1, A-road, A-side, from A to B, from A to Z, A-bomb, A-effect, A level and 254 more...
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H.Incandenza's list
kertwang, converge, lynchism, utilitarianism, hornswoggle, abide, omniscience, unctuous, sanctimonious, vespertine, vicarious, sic and 4 more...
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Verbs
edit, delete, get, take, abide, be, catch, wash, watch, fly, eat, sleep and 33 more...
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GRE Readings
sophistry, religious, venture, touching, slander, rotunda, singular, spurious, rhetoric, virtue, temper, tardy and 133 more...
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my gre list
its my gre word lists
abeyance, aberr, abash, abide, abhor, abject, abjure, ablution, abode, abolish, abominable, aboriginal and 19 more...
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and ...
Words that, as I see it, have some fond connection to the Alice stories through their creation or particular use by Lewis Carroll. I mean to tie them all together with contexty comments!
alice, daisy-chain, white rabbit, waistcoat-pocket, rabbit-hole, marmalade, antipathy, antipode, curtsey, dinah, tea-time, rat-hole and 232 more...
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Good Words
fenestering, cetic, immanent, quickening, archetypal, shibboleth, soma, wetware, heritable, Apotheosis, halcyon, cellar door and 482 more...
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bilby's Words
pandemic, whirl, guffaw, ethereal, feisty, dunt, ephemeral, pule, flipergebet, prink, maunder, gammon and 1023 more...
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Is it morning yet?
coterie, lexeme, counterbalance, forthright, pigtail, ponytail, french-braid, barrette, listless, counsel, sitting duck, dead duck and 268 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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billy shakespeare's guide to good living
hurlyburly, nave, direful, whence, sooth, dwindle, tempest-tost, withal, selfsame, wrack, unfix, recompense and 142 more...
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#1
Words I Like
abide, sashay, microbial, scented, nature, amorphous, unknown, imagine, photogenic, soft, silken, history and 188 more...
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newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for abide.

chained_bear Ask the Dude. He abides all the time. Aug 8, 2008
rolig I think the simple "abided" will work. No need to complicate things. Aug 8, 2008
yarb What's the past tense of this? Abode? Abade? Abid? Aug 7, 2008
Prolagus The dude must abide.
(The Dude) Mar 14, 2008
patty4jc "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."
John 15:7 Oct 25, 2007
patty4jc But whoever has this worlds goods, and see his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
1 John 3:17 Oct 25, 2007