Language: en
Meaning: (intransitive,idiomatic)Towait, especially for a suitableopportunity.1819,Jedediah Cleishbotham[pseudonym;Walter Scott], chapter III, inTales of My Landlord, Third Series.[…], volume I (The Bride of Lammermoor), Edinburgh:[…][James Ballantyne and Co.] forArchibald Constable and Co.; London:Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown,[…]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co.[…],→OCLC,pages66–67:Ravenswood, who had assumed the disguise of a sewer upon the occasion, answered, in a stern voice, “Ibide my time”; and at the same moment a bull’s head, the ancient symbol of death, was placed upon the table.1965,Lennon–McCartney, “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”, inRubber Soul, performed byThe Beatles:I sat on the rug,biding my time/ Drinking her wine / We talked until two / And then she said, "it's time for bed"1999,J. K. Rowling, “The Keeper of the Keys”, inHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone[1],Scholastic, Inc.,→ISBN,→OCLC,page57:“Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he’s still out there,bidin’ his time, like, but I don’ believe it.2019, Andrew Herman,The “Better Angels” of Capitalism[2], Routledge,→ISBN:There are times, Machiavelli concedes, where it might be more advantageous to be cautious andbide one's timein order to ascertain the dispensation of the goddess more clearly.2022January 12, Paul Bigland, “Fab Four: the nation's finest stations: London Bridge”, inRAIL, number948, page31:Above the concourse, the underneath of the platforms has been clad with attractive wood panelling, while the columns holding them up are surrounded with seating - for use by passengersbiding their timewaiting for their trains, or who have used one of the 70-or-so eateries or shops that form part of the retail developments at the station.
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