Adjacent Words

Forbear definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FORBEAR, v.i. pret. forbore; pp. forborne.
1. To stop; to cease; to hold from proceeding; as, forbear to repeat these reproachful words.
2. To pause; to delay; as, forbear a while.
3. To abstain; to omit; to hold one's self from motion or entering on an affair.
Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? 1 Kings 22.
4. To refuse; to decline.
Whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
Ezek 2.
5. To be patient; to restrain from action or violence. Prov
25:15.
FORBEAR, v.t.
1. To avoid voluntarily; to decline.
Forbear his presence.
2. To abstain from; to omit; to avoid doing. Learn from the scriptures what you ought to do and what to forbear.
Have we not power to forbear working? 1 Corinthians 9.
3. To spare; to treat with indulgence and patience.
Forbearing one another in love. Ephesians 4.
4. To withhold.
Forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not. 2 Chronicles 35.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a person from whom you are descended [syn: forebear, forbear] v
1: refrain from doing; "she forbore a snicker" [syn: forbear, hold back]
2: resist doing something; "He refrained from hitting him back"; "she could not forbear weeping" [syn: refrain, forbear] [ant: act, move]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (forbore; forborne; -bearing) Etymology: Middle English forberen, from Old English forberan to endure, do without, from for- + beran to bear Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. obsolete to do without 2. to hold oneself back from especially with an effort <forbore mentioning the incident> 3. obsolete to leave alone ; shun <forbear his presence — Shakespeare> intransitive verb 1. hold back, abstain <have forborne from taking part in any controversy — Abraham Lincoln> 2. to control oneself when provoked ; be patient • forbearer noun II. variant of forebear

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. v.intr. & tr. (past forbore; past part. forborne) (often foll. by from, or to + infin.) literary abstain or desist (from) (could not forbear (from) speaking out; forbore to mention it). Etymology: OE forberan (as FOR-, BEAR(1)) 2. var. of FOREBEAR.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Forbear For*bear", n. [See Fore, and Bear to produce.] An ancestor; a forefather; -- usually in the plural. [Scot.] ``Your forbears of old.'' --Sir W. Scott.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Forbear For*bear", v. i. [imp. Forbore(Forbare, [Obs.]); p. p. Forborne; p. pr. & vb. n. Forbearing.] [OE. forberen, AS. forberan; pref. for- + beran to bear. See Bear to support.] 1. To refrain from proceeding; to pause; to delay. Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? --1 Kinds xxii. 6. 2. To refuse; to decline; to give no heed. Thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. --Ezek. ii. 7. 3. To control one's self when provoked. The kindest and the happiest pair Will find occasion to forbear. --Cowper. Both bear and forbear. --Old Proverb.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Forbear For*bear", v. t. 1. To keep away from; to avoid; to abstain from; to give up; as, to forbear the use of a word of doubdtful propriety. But let me that plunder forbear. --Shenstone. The King In open battle or the tilting field Forbore his own advantage. --Tennyson. 2. To treat with consideration or indulgence. Forbearing one another in love. --Eph. iv. 2. 3. To cease from bearing. [Obs.] Whenas my womb her burden would forbear. --Spenser.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(forbears, forbearing, forbore, forborne) If you forbear to do something, you do not do it although you have the opportunity or the right to do it. (FORMAL) I forbore to comment on this... Protesters largely forbore from stone-throwing and vandalism. VERB: V to-inf, V from -ing/n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

for-bar' (chadhal; anechomai): In the Old Testament chadhal, "to leave off," is the word most frequently translated "forbear" (Ex 23:5, etc.); damam, "to be silent," chasakh, "to keep back," mashakh, "to draw or stretch out," occur once each; the Revised Version (British and American) renders Eze 24:17 (damam), "Sigh, but not aloud," margin "Hebrew be silent,"; Pr 24:11 (chasakh), "See that thou hold back," margin "or forbear thou not to deliver," the King James Version "if thou forbear to deliver"; Ne 9:30 (mashakh), "bear" instead of "forbear"; 'aph literally, "breathing," the "nose," hence, from violent breathing, "anger" ('erekh, "long," understood), and kul "to hold," are translated "forbearing" (Pr 25:15; Jer 20:9, respectively).

In the New Testament we have anechomai, "to hold self back or up," "with longsuffering, forbearing one another" (Eph 4:2,; Col 3:13); aniemi "to send back," the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) "forbear threatening' (Eph 6:9); pheidomai, "to spare," "but I forbear" (2Co 12:6); meergazesthai, "not to work," "to forbear working" (1Co 9:6); stego, "to cover," "conceal": "when I could no longer forbear" (1Th 3:1,5).

W. L.Walker

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. 1. Stop, pause, cease, desist, stay, hold, break off, leave off, give over. 2. Abstain, refrain. 3. Be tolerant, endure, be patient. II. v. a. 1. Shun, decline, avoid. 2. Omit, withhold, abstain from. 3. Spare, tolerate, endure, put up with, be patient with, treat with indulgence.

Moby Thesaurus

abstain, abstain from, avoid, be patient, bear, bear with composure, bridle, carry on, carry through, cease, curb, desist, dispense with, do without, endure, escape, eschew, evade, forgive, forgo, give quarter, have mercy upon, have pity, hold, hold aloof from, hold back, hold off, inhibit, keep, keep back, keep from, keep in hand, let alone, let go by, let up on, melt, never touch, not touch, not use, pardon, pass up, refrain, refrain from, relax, relent, reprieve, reserve, restrain, sacrifice, save, shun, spare, stand aloof from, suffer, take pity on, thaw, tolerate, wait, wait it out, waive, withhold