vouchsafe
VerbOpen English WordNet
Word of the day · Oct 13About this word
irascibleadjective
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Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Vouch·safe′ transitive verb [past tense & past participle Vouchsafed; present participle & verbal noun Vouchsafing.]
Origin: Vouch + safe, that is, to vouch or answer for safety.
1. To condescend to grant; to concede; to bestow.
If ye vouchsafe that it be so.— Geoffrey Chaucer
Shall I vouchsafe your worship a word or two?— William Shakespeare
It is not said by the apostle that God vouchsafed to the heathens the means of salvation.— Robert South
2. To receive or accept in condescension. obsolete William Shakespeare
Vouch·safe′ intransitive verb
To condescend; to deign; to yield; to descend or stoop. Geoffrey Chaucer
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.— Bk. of Com. Prayer.
Vouchsafe, illustrious Ormond, to behold What power the charms of beauty had of old.— John Dryden
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54