Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To present as a gift or an honor; confer: bestowed high praise on the winners.
- v. To apply; use: "On Hester Prynne's story . . . I bestowed much thought” ( Nathaniel Hawthorne).
- v. To place or stow: "He bestowed [the money]in his pockets with feigned composure” ( James Joyce).
- v. To store or house.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To lay up in store; deposit for safe keeping; stow; place.
- To lodge, or find quarters for; provide with accommodation.
- To dispose of.
- To give; confer; impart gratuitously: followed by on or upon before the recipient: as, to bestow praise or blame impartially.
- To give in marriage.
- To apply; make use of; use; employ.
- To behave or deport.
- Synonyms Confer, Grant, etc. See give.
Wiktionary
- v. transitive To lay up in store; deposit for safe keeping; stow; place.
- v. transitive To lodge, or find quarters for; provide with accommodation.
- v. transitive To dispose of.
- v. transitive To give; confer; impart gratuitously; present something to someone as a gift or honour.
- v. transitive To give in marriage.
- v. transitive To apply; make use of; use; employ.
- v. transitive, obsolete To behave or deport.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To lay up in store; to deposit for safe keeping; to stow; to place; to put.
- v. To use; to apply; to devote, as time or strength in some occupation.
- v. obsolete To expend, as money.
- v. To give or confer; to impart; -- with on or upon.
- v. To give in marriage.
- v. obsolete To demean; to conduct; to behave; -- followed by a reflexive pronoun.
WordNet 3.0
- v. bestow a quality on
- v. give as a gift
- v. present.
Etymologies
- From Middle English bestowen, bistowen, equivalent to be- (“on, over, about”) + stow. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English bistowen : bi-, be- + stowen, to place; see stow. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“_bestow upon others_, and which we can bestow _liberally_ because by this very action we open the way for still greater supplies to flow in.”
“Let her work for you in return for this; she don't ask alms, she only wants employment and a little kindness, and the best charity we can bestow is to see that she has both.”
“But the idea of relinquishing those delightful amusements and flattering attentions, which wealth and equipage bestow, is painful.”
The Coquette, or, The History of Eliza Wharton: A Novel Founded on Fact
“That's a title we bestow on athletes in any sport who like to get bloody.”
“Would not viewing an individual's sexual orientation and behaviors as unique to that individual, rather than typical of a group identity, get rid of the sense of rigidity and exclusion that labels bestow?”
The Huffington Post: Yolanda Reid Chassiakos: Post-Label Sexuality: The Time Has Come
“The child put her left hand upon her father's forehead and held the right above the heads of the others, "As the Goddess of Mercy has given me her favour, so I in her name bestow on you the love of heaven.”
“I make not any doubt, but almes-deedes and prayers, are very mighty; and prevailing meanes, to appease heavens anger for some sinnes committed; but if such as bestow them, did either see or know, to whom they give them: they would more warily keepe them, or else cast them before Swine, in regard they are altogether so unworthy of them.”
“How much willow ware have I got to 'bestow' on you?" inquired the”
“Selborne "few or no writers on Natural History, save Mr. Gosse and poor Mr. Edward Forbes, have had the power of bringing out the human side of science, and giving to seemingly dry disquisitions ... that living and personal interest, to bestow which is generally the special function of the poet.”
“To say it another way, our egalitarian society does not "bestow" freedom upon you.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘bestow’.
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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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hunting
crudely, unequivocal, obsolete, obscure, overtly, misdeed, shack, inherent, outcry, hefty, composed, poised and 318 more...
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bad memory
copper, anvil, oblique, thrust, shrine, welfare, farewell, bitter, faction, sectarian, tangible, spectacle and 134 more...
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multiple meaning words
These words seem very familiar but are awfully-versatile and oftentimes serve senses exceptionally beyond people's presumptions ...
sense, serve, please, say, profile, draw, weather, bear, project, ship, profiler, tune and 140 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2046 more...
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March 2012
panache, evanescent, erogenous, vestibule, malfeasance, lacuna, blithering, incubate, breech, tabernacle, pearly, upholstery and 79 more...
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vocab #3
admonish, aghast, annihilate, benefactor, bestow, devioud, devious, heed, mortal, muse, pioneer, plague and 3 more...
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Transcendentalism (Thoreau)
A list of words from our Thoreau readings.
rudiment, sentinel, supernumerary, servitor, Memnon, somnolence, simplify, Aurora, vigor, simplicity, Veda, Saint Vitus and 43 more...
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Vocab3
admonish, aghast, annihilate, benefactor, bestow, devious, devoid, heed, mortal, muse, pioneer, plague and 3 more...
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Vocab ##5
appint, monarch, counterpart, muse, bestow, unwitting, aghast, admonish, wage, decree, cavalry, phalanx and 126 more...
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Misc. Words.
Words I like to use, words I like but may forget.
corrosion, astonish, solace, ferment, continuum, kinesthetic, permeate, repose, caprice, cardinal, discourse, surrender and 610 more...
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My GRE
concomitant, mendacity, corollary, mandate, ascertain, exacerbate, substantiate, perennial, exemplify, hegemony, acrimonious, repertoire and 653 more...
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amy's GRE 2012
gimmicks, kowtow, unpretentious, skeptical, cynical, somber, prevaricate, equivocate, requisite, embellish, impregnable, procrastinate and 307 more...
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From Book - SAT & College Dictionary ...
ebb, exotic, immure, abeyance, panegyric, debonair, protege, dissipate, frantic, penitent, abject, edify and 871 more...
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Sat Vocabulary List
abandon, abash, abate, abjure, ablution, abnegate, abominable, aboriginal, abortive, abrade, abridge, abrogate and 2155 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for bestow.
Prolagus Wouldn't you like to get away?
Bestowing the memory of good and evil
On the ones you left behind
The heartless swine
(Le pastie de la Bourgeoisie, by Belle and Sebastian) Jul 28, 2008