Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To refrain from; abstain from; omit; avoid the doing or use of.
  • To spare; excuse; treat indulgently.
  • To refrain; abstain; decline; stop; cease; hold off or back.
  • To be patient; endure; restrain one's self from action or from violence.
  • Synonyms To abstain, give over, desist, stay, leave off.
  • noun See forebear.

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

  • noun Scot. An ancestor; a forefather; -- usually in the plural.
  • transitive verb To keep away from; to avoid; to abstain from; to give up.
  • transitive verb To treat with consideration or indulgence.
  • transitive verb obsolete To cease from bearing.
  • intransitive verb To refrain from proceeding; to pause; to delay.
  • intransitive verb To refuse; to decline; to give no heed.
  • intransitive verb To control one's self when provoked.

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

  • noun Alternative spelling of forebear.
  • verb transitive To keep away from; to avoid; to abstain from; to give up.
  • verb intransitive To refrain from proceeding; to pause; to delay.
  • verb intransitive To refuse; to decline; to give no heed.
  • verb intransitive To control oneself when provoked.

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

  • verb refrain from doing
  • noun a person from whom you are descended
  • verb resist doing something

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English forberen, from Old English forberan ("to forbear, abstain from, refrain; suffer, endure, tolerate, humor; restrain; do without"), from Proto-Germanic *fraberanan (“to hold back, endure”), equivalent to for- +‎ bear. Cognate with Old Frisian forbera ("to forfeit"), Middle High German verbërn ("to have not; abstain; refrain from; avoid"), Gothic  (frabairan, "to endure").

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Examples

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  • Forbear to taste

    Library paste

    -The Eclectic Abecedarium

    June 7, 2009