bide one's time
"bide-one-s-time" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bide one's time” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To wait, especially for a suitable opportunity.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bide-one-s-time · bide one's time · English
bide one's time · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 15 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bide one's time |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 15 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “bide one's time” in English
Rare enough to double-check
bide one's time is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To wait, especially for a suitable opportunity.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for bide one's time, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is bide one's time, spelled B-I-D-E- -O-N-E-'-S- -T-I-M-E.
Definition
- 1To wait, especially for a suitable opportunity.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bide one's time appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
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.
I sat on the rug, biding my time / Drinking her wine / We talked until two / And then she said, "it's time for bed"
Synonyms
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.