forbear
Noun · VerbOpen English WordNet
Noun (1)
- a person from whom you are descendedSynonyms: forebearType of ancestor, ascendantKinds grandparent, great grandparent
Verb (2)forbore, forborne, forbearing
- refrain from doing“she forbore a snicker”Synonyms: hold backMore general refrain
- resist doing something“He refrained from hitting him back”“she could not forbear weeping”Synonyms: refrainOpposite actMore general resist, hold outMore specific leave, avoid, spare, close up, help oneself, stand by, abstain, sit out, let it go, hold back +1 more
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Webster's Dictionary (1913)
For·bear′ (fŏr-bâr′), noun
Origin: See Fore, and Bear to produce.
An ancestor; a forefather; — usually in the plural. Scottish [Also spelled forebear.] “Your forbears of old.” Sir Walter Scott
For·bear′ (fŏr-bâr′), intransitive verb [past tense Forbore (Forbare (…), obsolete); past participle Forborne; present participle & verbal noun Forbearing.]
Origin: 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 Kings 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.— William Cowper
Both bear and forbear.— Old Proverb.
For·bear′ transitive verb
1. To keep away from; to avoid; to abstain from; to give up; as, to forbear the use of a word of doubtful propriety.
But let me that plunder forbear.— William Shenstone
The King In open battle or the tilting field Forbore his own advantage.— Alfred Tennyson
2. To treat with consideration or indulgence.
Forbearing one another in love.— Eph. iv. 2.
3. To cease from bearing. obsolete
Whenas my womb her burden would forbear.— Edmund Spenser
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54