; abiding
Alfred TennysonJeff SommerDaniel Defoe
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Abide has abided in the English language since before the 12th century, picking up along the way several meanings and inflections that are now rare or no longer in use. For instance, one of abide’s former meanings was “to stop” and its former past participle was abidden (whereas we now use abided or abode). Today, abide often turns up in the phrase “can't abide” to say that someone cannot tolerate or accept something. The expression abide by, which means “to accept and be guided by (something),” is also common. Related terms include abiding, meaning “continuing for a long time” or “not changing” (as in “an abiding friendship”), abidance (“continuance” or “the act or process of doing what you have been asked or ordered to do”), and abode (“the place where someone lives”).
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The Use of Abide in Literature and Popular Culture
The comments by users of this dictionary suggest that many people who are interested in the meaning of the word abide are motivated by one of two rather distinct things: the Bible, in which, for instance, Jesus calls upon his followers to "abide in me"; and the movie The Big Lebowski, in which Jeffrey Lebowski (aka "The Dude") proclaims that "The Dude abides." Both the movie and the book have done much to keep the word in general current usage. Though the sources are wildly different, in each of these particular examples, abide is used as it is defined at the first intransitive sense: "to remain stable or fixed in a state." In the phrase "abide in me," Jesus is asking his followers to stay constant in their relationship to him. The exact meaning of "The Dude abides" is a topic of some debate, but clearly there is some notion of the constancy of Lebowski himself—metaphysically perhaps—being asserted.
Although the phrase can’t abide has for some the feeling of a modern colloquialism, it has been pointed out that such use dates back at least as far as Shakespeare: in Henry IV, Part II, Falstaff says “she would always say she could not abide Master Shallow.”
Examples of abide in a Sentence
Peter Pouncey, Rules for Old Men Waiting, 2005
A former party functionary, Yeltsin replaced Communist ideology with a supremely simplified vision of democracy, which boiled down to two tenets: He could not abide Communists, and he supported freedom of the press.
—Masha Gessen, New Republic, 5 June 2000
abide in the house of the Lord
a love that abided till the end of their lives
Natasha Dye, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
The problem is that these guidelines are not always possible to abide by, which can lead to feelings of guilt and shame.
—Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 27 Oct. 2025
One abiding theme is certainty.
—Judy Berman, Time, 23 Oct. 2025
But Nashvillians still need to abide by state law’s limitations on proximity to other residences.
—Austin Hornbostel, Nashville Tennessean, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for abide
Cite this Entry
“Abide.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abide. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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