bide one's time

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bide one's time (third-person singular simple present bides one's time, present participle biding one's time, simple past bode one's time or bided one's time, past participle bidden one's time or bided one's time)

1. (intransitive, idiomatic) To wait, especially for a suitable opportunity.
   • 1819, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter III, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume I (The Bride of Lammermoor), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, pages 66–67:

     Ravenswood, who had assumed the disguise of a sewer upon the occasion, answered, in a stern voice, “I bide my time”; and at the same moment a bull’s head, the ancient symbol of death, was placed upon the table.

   • 1965, Lennon–McCartney (lyrics and music), “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”, in Rubber Soul, performed by The Beatles:

     I sat on the rug, biding my time / Drinking her wine / We talked until two / And then she said, "it's time for bed"

   • 1999, J. K. Rowling, “The Keeper of the Keys”, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone‎, Scholastic, Inc., →ISBN, →OCLC, page 57:

     “Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he’s still out there, bidin’ his time, like, but I don’ believe it.

   • 2019, Andrew Herman, The “Better Angels” of Capitalism‎, Routledge, →ISBN:

     There are times, Machiavelli concedes, where it might be more advantageous to be cautious and bide one's time in order to ascertain the dispensation of the goddess more clearly.

   • 2022 January 12, Paul Bigland, “Fab Four: the nation's finest stations: London Bridge”, in RAIL, number 948, page 31:

     Above the concourse, the underneath of the platforms has been clad with attractive wood panelling, while the columns holding them up are surrounded with seating - for use by passengers biding their time waiting for their trains, or who have used one of the 70-or-so eateries or shops that form part of the retail developments at the station.

• cool one's heels, kick one's heels; See also Thesaurus:wait

• cool one's heels
• mark time
• stall for time
• wait and see

• “bide one's time”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.