abide
/əˈbʌɪd
/verb
1 [no object] (abide by) Accept or act in accordance with (a rule, decision, or recommendation): I said I would abide by their decision...
- The serious collector of funny names accepts only those of real people, and abides by certain rules of the game, just as do those who fish for trout.
- The PA said that it had always abided by the decisions of the court.
- There was always the arguing, but in the end, the men had made a decision and all had abided by it.
Synonyms
comply with, obey, observe, follow, keep to, hold to, conform to, adhere to, stick to, stand by, act in accordance with, uphold, heed, pay attention to, agree to/with, consent to, accede to, accept, acquiesce in, go along with, acknowledge, respect, defer to
2 [with object] (can/could not abide) informal Be unable to tolerate: if there is one thing I cannot abide it is a lack of discipline...
- The man who had hoped to segue from comedy returned to the role he hated and the director he couldn't abide.
- For years Papa operated with a plain desk, which he and Mother shared, but she couldn't stand his clutter and he couldn't abide having his clutter ‘straightened up.’
- At the same time, he couldn't abide facile equations between criminal desperadoes and the legalized murder machinery of a state.
Synonyms
tolerate, bear, stand, put up with, endure, suffer, accept, cope with, live with, brook, support, take, countenance, face, handle
informal stick, swallow, stomach, hack, wear
3 [no object] (Of a feeling or memory) continue without fading or being lost: at least one memory will abide...
- One memory abides of when, at a very tender age and against the tide, he took up Irish dancing.
- Still, let the memory abide of him chewing the ends of his moustache.
- How can faith and fear abide in the face of this avalanche of enlightenment, this flash-flood of knowledge and exposure to everything that once had been only Our secrets?
Synonyms
continue, remain, survive, last, persist, stay, hold on, live on
3.1 archaic Live; dwell: many unskilful Men do abide in our City of London...
- You did not read books through; you dwelt, abided between their lines and reopening them after an interval.
- The Elder says, ‘Those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them’.
- Where does the consciousness abide before it takes rebirth or becomes liberated?
Derivatives
abidance
/ noun ...- What are you comparing, the laxity in enforcement or the law abidance?
- The purpose is to promote freedom of expression, which is complemented by its abidance to uncompromising discipline.
- When the circumstances giving rise to the duress subside, they must return to law abidance as soon as reasonably practicable.
Origin
Old English ābīdan 'wait', from ā- 'onwards' + bīdan (see bide).