to bide one's time
- idiom
- Informal
:
esperar el momento adecuado
- Before making any decisions, it's wise to bide one's time and carefully consider all options.
Examples
-
But this year, Doug was just biding his time, laying in the weeds, and when the time was right, Doug did what Doug did best.
-
And when you get there, just be patient, bide your time, wait for a clean shot.
-
I think she was biding her time.
-
We just bide our time.
-
But you bided your time, waiting for your opportunity.
-
For the present, we will bide our time.
-
We will bide our time.
-
Amy must bide her time and return later.
-
We must bide our time, we may be watched.
-
Arthfael shall pay for what he has done, but we shall bide our time.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To stay in one place or delay action until something happens
522
3.2
To wait for something with hope or excitement
78
3.8
To wait before doing something
37
4.2
To wait before doing something
23
7.4
To wait patiently for the right time to act
11
5.8
To be ready to take a job or role when a chance comes
How Patient
- Informal
- Informal
80
3.7
∞
1.0
- Informal
111
3.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to wait patiently for a suitable opportunity' is directly derivable from combining 'bide' (to delay or wait) with 'one's time' (one's period/opportunity); the possessive plus 'time' signals waiting for the right moment. This composition follows normal English semantics (despite 'bide' being somewhat literary), so a learner who knows the constituent words can infer the idiom's meaning.
Etymology
Bide one's time comes from an old use of the word bide meaning 'to stay' or 'to wait'. Imagine someone quietly staying back until the right moment. By biding their time they wait until a good chance comes, so the phrase means 'to wait patiently for a good chance'.