bide

[bahyd] /baɪd/
verb (used with object), bided or bode; bided or (Archaic) bid; biding.
1.
Archaic. to endure; bear.
2.
Obsolete. to encounter.
verb (used without object), bided or bode; bided or (Archaic) bid; biding.
3.
to dwell; abide; wait; remain.
Idioms
4.
bide one's time, to wait for a favorable opportunity:
He wanted to ask for a raise, but bided his time.
Origin
before 900; Middle English biden, Old English bīdan; cognate with Old Frisian bīdia, Old Saxon bīdan, Old High German bītan, Old Norse bītha, Gothic beidan, Latin fīdere, Greek peíthesthai to trust, rely < Indo-European *bheidh-; the meaning apparently developed: have trust > endure > wait > abide > remain
Related forms
bider, noun
Synonyms
3. stay, linger, tarry.
British Dictionary definitions for bide one's time

bide

/baɪd/
verb bides, biding, bided, bode, bided
1.
(intransitive) (archaic or dialect) to continue in a certain place or state; stay
2.
(intransitive) (archaic or dialect) to live; dwell
3.
(transitive) (archaic or dialect) to tolerate; endure
4.
(Scot) bide a wee, to stay a little
5.
(Scot) bide by, to abide by
6.
bide one's time, to wait patiently for an opportunity
Often shortened to (Scot) byde
Word Origin
Old English bīdan; related to Old Norse bītha to wait, Gothic beidan, Old High German bītan
Word Origin and History for bide one's time

bide

v.

Old English bidan "to stay, continue, live, remain," also "to trust, rely" (cognate with Old Norse biða, Old Saxon bidan, Old Frisian bidia, Middle Dutch biden, Old High German bitan, Gothic beidan "to wait"), apparently from PIE *bheidh-, an extended stem of one root of Old English biddan (see bid (v.)), the original sense of which was "to command," and "to trust" (cf. Greek peithein "to persuade," pistis "faith;" Latin fidere "to trust," foedus "compact, treaty," Old Church Slavonic beda "need"). Perhaps the sense evolved in prehistoric times through "endure," and "endure a wait," to "to wait." Preserved in Scotland and northern England, replaced elsewhere by abide in all senses except to bide one's time. Related: Bided; biding.

Idioms and Phrases with bide one's time

bide one's time

Wait for the opportune moment, as in The cat sat in front of the mousehole, biding its time. This phrase employs the verb to bide in the sense of “to wait for,” a usage dating from about a.d. 950 and surviving mainly in this locution.