Online dictionaryOnline dictionary
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Forbear   Listen
verb
Forbear  v. i.  (past forbore, obs. forbare; past part. forborne; pres. part. forbearing)  
1.
To refrain from proceeding; to pause; to delay. "Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear?"
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."
3.
To control one's self when provoked. "The kindest and the happiest pair Will find occasion to forbear." "Both bear and forbear."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words



Share |
Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar





"Forbear" Quotes from Famous Books



... about slavery and the Colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save this Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to ...
— History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880. Vol. 2 (of 2) - Negroes as Slaves, as Soldiers, and as Citizens • George Washington Williams

... admirer of it, as not to perceive it is tinctured with some real (though not radical) defects. The limits of a letter would not suffer me to go fully into an examination of them; nor would the discussion be entertaining or profitable. I therefore forbear to touch upon it. With regard to the two great points (the pivots upon which the whole machine must move), my ...
— George Washington • William Roscoe Thayer

... the Most High, my son!" he said gently, yet reproachfully. "Distraught as thou dost seem with some strange misery, and sick with fears, forbear thine ignorant fury against Him who hath for love's dear sake alone created thee. Control thy soul in patience!—surely thou art afflicted by thine own vain and false imaginings, which for a time contort and darken the clear light of truth. ...
— Ardath - The Story of a Dead Self • Marie Corelli

... to drop a hint of her hostess' too evident suspicion of herself to the family autocrat, for it was the last mistake that Mrs. Stillwater could possibly wish to make—to kindle anger between grandfather and granddaughter. Her policy was to forbear, to be patient, to conciliate, and ...
— For Woman's Love • Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth

... rare a pleasure for me to find Professor Owen's opinions in entire accordance with my own, that I cannot forbear from quoting a paragraph which appeared in his Essay "On the Characters, etc., of the Class Mammalia," in the 'Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London' for 1857, but is unaccountably omitted in the "Reade Lecture" delivered ...
— On the Relations of Man to the Lower Animals • Thomas H. Huxley

... downwards in a few seconds and behold we are in the midst of rows of counters groaning under bargains that even the New Poor can scarce forbear to grasp. ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 159, July 7th, 1920 • Various

... once to his disciples, "Why do you not study the Book of Poetry [the Shih King]? It would stimulate your mind, encourage introspection, teach you to love your fellows, and to forbear with all. It would show you your duty to your fathers and your king; and you would also learn from it the names of many birds and beasts ...
— The Worlds Greatest Books, Volume XIII. - Religion and Philosophy • Various

... himself opposed near Megiddo by a Jewish force led by its king in person. The Chronicler tells us that Necoh sought to turn Josiah from his desperate venture: What have I to do with thee? I am come not against thee but against the House with which I am at war. God hath spoken to speed me; forbear from God who is with me, lest He destroy thee.(305) But Josiah persisted. The issue of so unequal a contest could not be doubtful. The Jewish army was routed and ...
— Jeremiah • George Adam Smith

... to the common defense,.. and for the support of the civil government, and the administration of justice in such province,... it will be proper,... for so long as such provision shall be made,... to forbear, in respect of such province,... to levy any Duty, Tax, or Assessment,... except... for the regulation of commerce." The minister's resolution, although by most of his supporters thought to be useless, was adopted by a vote ...
— The Eve of the Revolution - A Chronicle of the Breach with England, Volume 11 In The - Chronicles Of America Series • Carl Becker

... sound, as of wood against wood, which, to their now alert senses, indicated that the watcher was gently pushing back the slide which concealed the spy-hole. There was then a pause, and the lads looked across at one another and could not forbear a smile, even in their state of misery and suspense, at the idea of the spy's astonishment and disappointment at finding all dark when he expected to be able to ...
— Across the Spanish Main - A Tale of the Sea in the Days of Queen Bess • Harry Collingwood

... recalled to my recollection the many receptions of this kind to which I have now so often been exposed, and I could not forbear uttering aloud my indignation at the inhospitality of the English. This harsh sentiment I soon corrected, however, as I walked on, by recollecting, and placing in the opposite scale, the unbounded and unequalled generosity of this nation, and also the many acts of real and substantial kindness ...
— Travels in England in 1782 • Charles P. Moritz

... peculiar feelings, and ashamed of my conduct in the morning, I left the town towards the evening, to walk alone in a solitary place. And now, being particularly conscious of my ingratitude to the Lord for all His mercies, and of my want of steadfastness in His ways, I could not forbear falling down on my knees behind a hedge, though the snow was a foot deep, anew to surrender myself wholly to Him, and to pray for strength that I might for the future live more to His glory, and also to thank Him for His late mercy. It was a blessed time, ...
— A Narrative of Some of the Lord's Dealings with George Mueller - Written by Himself, First Part • George Mueller

... his appreciation of this naive bit of information. And even her grandfather could not forbear a smile, though he was touched. "I am convinced that you have been in good hands, Elizabeth," said he warmly. "It was not against Mr. Carnegie that any neglect of natural duty ...
— The Vicissitudes of Bessie Fairfax • Harriet Parr

... that his own action would be regulated by the answer he should receive, and the tenor of the commission with which he was honored. At the same time he required of the commandant his peaceable departure, and that he would forbear to prosecute a purpose "so interruptive of the harmony and good understanding which his majesty was desirous to continue and cultivate with ...
— The Life of George Washington, Volume I • Washington Irving

... went to bed I took a landscape of this pleasant terrace," says Evelyn in Roane.[362] At Tournon, where he saw a very strong castle under a high precipice, "The prospect was so tempting that I could not forbear designing it with my crayon."[363] Consequently, we find instructions for travellers reflecting the tastes of the time: Gerbier's Subsidium Peregrinantibus, for instance, insisting on a knowledge of "Perspective, Sculpture, Architecture and Pictures," as among the requisites ...
— English Travellers of the Renaissance • Clare Howard

... had been cut asunder from all possibility of it. Now, for the moment, she was in the mood to look around her for a friend to lean upon; and it might be that she could find that friend in Sergius, if she would consent to let her vengeance sleep, and would forbear to pursue him with further machinations. His love, to be sure, was gone from her, never to be restored; but, after all, might it not be better to retain his friendship than to incur his hate? And if she were now to make full disclosure of the past, and ask his pardon, ...
— The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No. 6, December 1864 - Devoted To Literature And National Policy • Various

... the ci-devant noblesse, I cannot forbear to mention the loss which those who had the happiness of her acquaintance, have sustained by the recent death of Madame DE CHOISEUL, the relict of the duke of that name, minister to Lewis XV. Her virtues ...
— Paris As It Was and As It Is • Francis W. Blagdon

... Reforming. It is a shocking Truth to say all this wou'd be done, if Men wou'd but own themselves oblig'd, and wou'd therefore resolve to behave, like reasonable Creatures: And yet this is a Point as hard to bring about, as if we were arguing with Hottentots, and persuading Tartars to forbear publick Plunders, and to have some regard to Right and Wrong, and the real Happiness and Misery of ...
— A Dialogue Between Dean Swift and Tho. Prior, Esq. • Anonymous

... solemn character; though it must be acknowledged that, in spite of all my endeavors, the maiden weeps oftener than she smiles. At such moments I forbear to press the holy songs; but there are many sweet and comfortable periods of satisfactory communication, when the ears of the savages are astounded with the ...
— The Last of the Mohicans • James Fenimore Cooper

... in that sense a few moments ago, but all my theories are falling to the ground. Forbear though, Miss Bailey," he said with a sudden air of sportive mystery, "you cannot afford to ruin your chances of success for the sake of a merely ornamental gift. You play the grande dame so well, that you are sure ...
— A Romantic Young Lady • Robert Grant

... but make trouble for yourself and add to the misery of your husband by such a course. In your particular case, I feel that your knowledge of the jealous disposition of the man you married renders it your duty to bear and forbear, and to try every method of reformation before you resort to the very common highway of divorce as an exit ...
— A Woman of the World - Her Counsel to Other People's Sons and Daughters • Ella Wheeler Wilcox

... teeth and his piercing eyes blazed upon the youth. "By my father's soul! I can scarce forbear to strike you to the earth! But this I promise you, that if you show that sign of the Red Griffin in the field and if you be taken alive in to-morrow's battle, your head shall most assuredly be shorn ...
— Sir Nigel • Arthur Conan Doyle

... am your friend, Sir: Dinant you draw your sword Upon the Gentleman preserv'd your honour: This was my second, and did back me nobly, For shame forbear. ...
— The Little French Lawyer - A Comedy • Francis Beaumont

... on the Black Sea, I cannot forbear a single remark on the distinguished individual who has so long and so worthily represented Great ...
— Servia, Youngest Member of the European Family • Andrew Archibald Paton

... must he!" said Horace, making a face at which none present, not even Helen, could forbear to smile. "His heart, I am sure, is in the right place always. I only wish one could say the same of his wig. And would it be amiss if he sometimes (I would not be too hard upon him, Miss Stanley), once a fortnight, suppose—brushed, ...
— Helen • Maria Edgeworth

... shall lie down to die Beside the lamb, as though he were his brother; 180 Till all things shall be as they were, Silent and uncreated, save the sky: While a brief truce Is made with Death, who shall forbear The little remnant of the past creation, To generate new nations for his use; This remnant, floating o'er the undulation Of the subsiding deluge, from its slime, When the hot sun hath baked the reeking soil Into ...
— The Works of Lord Byron - Poetry, Volume V. • Lord Byron

... would scarcely be worth the paper on which the bill is written. A law without a penalty, without a sanction, is of little value to any body. What good does it do for the Legislature to say, 'Do this, and forbear to do that,' if no consequence is to follow the act of disobedience? This is the vitality of the bill. What is the objection that is made to it, and which seems even to have staggered some friends of the measure? It is because it reads in the first section that any person who, ...
— History of the Thirty-Ninth Congress of the United States • Wiliam H. Barnes

... Studding-sails, which I thought needless. The Wind veer'd to the Northward, and I was resolved to make the Mallabar Course as soon as possible, for the Advantage of the Land and Sea Winds. I had one Passenger aboard, a sad troublesome wicked Fellow, whose Behaviour was so bad, that I could hardly forbear using him ill. I forbid my Officers keeping Company with him; but Mr. B——s would do it at all Events. I turn'd him once off the Quarter-Deck for being with him there, yet that did not avail. I came out ...
— Great Pirate Stories • Various

... Mr. Guppy, who later, in his declaration of love to her, reminded her of his services on that occasion—"I think you must have seen that I was struck with those charms on the day when I waited at the whytorseller. I think you must have remarked that I could not forbear a tribute to those charms when I put up the steps of the ...
— The Inns and Taverns of "Pickwick" - With Some Observations on their Other Associations • B.W. Matz

... Columba's shrine I swear, And every saint that's buried there, 'Tis he himself!" Lorn sternly cries; "And for my kinsman's death he dies!" As loudly Roland calls, "Forbear! Not in my sight while brand I wear, O'ermatched by odds shall warrior fall, Or blood of stranger stain my hall! This ancient fortress of my race Shall be misfortune's resting-place, Shelter or shield of the distressed, ...
— Ten Great Events in History • James Johonnot

... my realm, having lost these?' and thereat he drew his scimitar to take his own life also. At that moment there appeared to him the Goddess, who is Mistress of all men's fortunes. 'Son,' said she, staying his lifted hand, 'forbear thy rash purpose, and bethink ...
— Hindu Literature • Epiphanius Wilson

... will assist you in acquiring a knowledge of nouns as used to express ideas in vocal or written language. This subject might be pursued further with profit, if time would permit. As the time allotted to this lecture is nearly exhausted, I forbear. I shall hereafter have occasion to show how a whole phrase may be used to name an idea, and as such stand as the agent or object ...
— Lectures on Language - As Particularly Connected with English Grammar. • William S. Balch

... the meeting of the Parliament yesterday. And in the afternoon by other letters I hear, that about twelve of the Lords met and had chosen my Lord of Manchester Speaker of the House of Lords (the young Lords that never sat yet, do forbear to sit for the present); and Sir Harbottle Grimstone, Speaker for the House of Commons, [He was made Master of the Rolls, November following, and died 1683.] which, after a little debate, was granted. Dr. Reynolds preached before the Commons before they sat. My Lord told ...
— The Diary of Samuel Pepys • Samuel Pepys

... rate, would be saved, if he only held out like a man. Then he told him all about the Draug, whom he had struck below the neck with the Kvejtepig, and how it had now revenged itself upon him, and certainly would not forbear till it ...
— Weird Tales from Northern Seas • Jonas Lie

... recover, ate with appetite, slept and woke to be interested, and to enjoy Theodore's letter of description of St. Wulstan's, and even to ask questions. Alexis was ready to dance for joy when she first began really to talk to him; and could not forbear imparting his gladness to the Miss Mohuns that very evening, as well as to Mr. White, and running down after dinner with the good news to Maura, Mrs. Lee, and Lady Merrifield. Dinners with Mr. White had, ...
— Beechcroft at Rockstone • Charlotte M. Yonge

... activity all yesterday, and people were passing to and fro repeatedly. This excitement is generally believed to be connected with nothing particular. We have our own impression on the subject, but as disclosures would be premature, we purposely forbear making any. We can only say, at present, that Sir Robert Peel continues to hold the office ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, Complete • Various

... as I look on thee, I wonder wilt thou be unlocked for me? No, no! forbear!—yet then, yet then, 'Neath thy grim lid do lie the men— Men whom fortune's blasted arrows hit, And send them ...
— Adventures and Recollections • Bill o'th' Hoylus End

... of the species and who has the hardihood to indite some of the manifestations of their intelligence, wit, and craft, must discard the prejudices of his race, abandon all flattering sense of superiority, forbear the smiles of patronage, and contemplate them from the standpoint of ...
— My Tropic Isle • E J Banfield

... while upon my friend's remarks, in a tone of exultation said,—"Do you think, then, I could ever prevail on my people to forbear, when they saw a likely flock, from laying violent hands on it; or could I resist so favourable an opportunity of revenge? Nay, more; if we were then tamely to tie up our hands, do you think that Bulderent ...
— A Voyage to the Moon • George Tucker

... human love. Among these personal feelings, touching which we have 'said our say,' we find the following; which in one respect so forcibly illustrates what we have written within these two weeks to a western correspondent, that we cannot forbear to ...
— The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, February 1844 - Volume 23, Number 2 • Various

... that! But our living friends may, ere we know, pass from us; we may be to-day talking with those whose names to-morrow are to be written among the dead; the familiar household object of to-day may become sacred relics to-morrow. Let us walk softly; let us forbear and love; none ever repented of too much love to a departed friend; none ever regretted too much tenderness and indulgence, but many a tear has been shed for too much harshness and severity. Let our friends in heaven then teach us how to treat our friends on earth. Thus by no vain fruitless sorrow, ...
— Words of Cheer for the Tempted, the Toiling, and the Sorrowing • T. S. Arthur

... youth of the Polytechnic school, too, there was a beautiful little incident, so characteristic of the fine and delicate sensibility of the French, that I cannot forbear adverting to it. When those boys were required by the present king to designate from among their number the twelve most distinguished in the late conflict, with the view of conferring on them the decorations of the legion of honor—what was their answer? Permit me to read it, as extracted ...
— Celebration in Baltimore of the Triumph of Liberty in France • William Wirt

... self-protection; the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot be rightfully compelled to do or forbear because it will make him happier, because in the opinion of others to do so would be wise or even right. These are good reasons for remonstrating with him, or reasoning with him, or persuading him, or entreating him, but not for compelling him, ...
— On Compromise • John Morley

... say, pail, and the tears trembling in her i's, "do, do be calm, Mr. Deuceace. Monsieur de l'Orge, I beseech you to forgive him. You are, both of you, so esteemed, lov'd, by members of this family, that for its peace as well as your own, you should forbear to quarrel." ...
— Memoirs of Mr. Charles J. Yellowplush - The Yellowplush Papers • William Makepeace Thackeray

... forbear to give Wegscheider's testimony on the scanty measure of Scriptural credibility and authority in his own words. "But whatever narrations," he says, "especially accommodated to a certain age and relating miracles and mysteries, are united ...
— History of Rationalism Embracing a Survey of the Present State of Protestant Theology • John F. Hurst

... French Queen on behalf of Charles, at which terms of peace were to be adjusted. The Queen brought with her the princess Catharine, her daughter, whose hand Henry himself had formerly demanded as one of the conditions on which he would have consented to forbear from invading France. It was now hoped that if he would take her in marriage he would moderate his other demands. But Henry, for his part, was altogether unyielding. He insisted on the terms of the treaty of Bretigni, and on keeping his own conquests besides, with Anjou, ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 07 • Various

... who learns the use of the lacteals at the expense of his own humanity." Is there a physiological defenders of vivisection-freedom living to-day who would accept Dr. Johnson's conclusion, that one should forbear research which is possible only by the infliction of animal torment? How unfair it is, therefore, to suggest that the force of Dr. Johnson's argument is invalidated because anaesthetics were unknown—when the ...
— An Ethical Problem - Or, Sidelights upon Scientific Experimentation on Man and Animals • Albert Leffingwell

... looked at the wan little face on the pillow, he could not forbear a hope that this terrible disaster would mark a turning point in Eva's life; and then, as a moan fluttered through the girl's parched lips, he experienced a horrible fear that for Eva there would be no time for ...
— The Making of a Soul • Kathlyn Rhodes

... I am not thine. [1] Prim Creed, with categoric point, forbear To feature me my Lord by rule and line. Thou canst not measure Mistress Nature's hair, Not one sweet inch: nay, if thy sight is sharp, Would'st count the strings upon an ...
— Select Poems of Sidney Lanier • Sidney Lanier

... journal, I could not forbear a muttered quotation: "The day looks dark for England." Nevertheless, I drove on straight from Frederick, determined to prove what the morrow would bring forth. It was late when we reached the small roadside hotel, on the ridge of the South Mountain, where I had arranged to halt ...
— Border and Bastille • George A. Lawrence

... he sent forth a horrible voice, roaring and bellowing as doth a lion, which spectacle we all beheld so far as we were able to discern the same, as men prone to wonder at every strange thing. What opinion others had thereof, and chiefly the General himself, I forbear to deliver. But he took it for Bonum Omen, rejoicing that he was to war against such an enemy, if it were ...
— Short Studies on Great Subjects • James Anthony Froude

... victory. As for myself, I shall at present wave any commendation of those who die in war, [2] and omit to speak of the immortality of those men who are slain in the midst of their martial bravery; yet cannot I forbear to imprecate upon those who are of a contrary disposition, that they may die in time of peace, by some distemper or other, since their souls are condemned to the grave, together with their bodies. For what man of virtue is there who does not know, ...
— The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem • Flavius Josephus

... followed, though Mr. Godseff did not like it at all. One who beheld the sight when those fields of Odontoglossum burst into bloom might well entertain a doubt whether improvement was possible. There is nothing to approach it in this lower world. I cannot forbear to indicate one picture in the grand gallery. Fancy a corridor four hundred feet long, six wide, roofed with square baskets hanging from the glass as close as they will fit. Suspend to each of these—how ...
— About Orchids - A Chat • Frederick Boyle

... Yes, against the state of my master's purse. [Aside, and exit. Pyr. [aloud.] Sir, Agrippa desires you to forbear him till the next week; his mules are ...
— The Poetaster - Or, His Arraignment • Ben Jonson

... not appeal to Easterners; but Californiacs, I ask you how could I forbear to say ...
— The Native Son • Inez Haynes Irwin

... sedentary habit of life—the wear and tear of the brain—the absorbing passion for knowledge which day and night kept all his faculties in a stretch; made strange havoc in a constitution naturally strong. The poor author! how few persons understand; and forbear with, and pity him! He sells his health and youth to a rugged taskmaster. And, O blind and selfish world, you expect him to be as free of manner, and as pleasant of cheer, and as equal of mood, as if he ...
— Ernest Maltravers, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... he agreed to give up all his conquests, provided that himself and all his army should drink of the neighbouring spring. When these conditions were sworn to, he assembled his forces, and offered his kingdom to the man that would forbear drinking; not one of them, however, would deny himself, but they all drank. Then Sous went down to the spring himself, and having only sprinkled his face in sight of the enemy, he marched off, and still held the country, because all had not drank. Yet, though he ...
— Ideal Commonwealths • Various

... "Forbear, Dame Elspeth" said the monk; "your plates are as clean as wooden trenchers and pewter flagons can well be; the foulness of which I speak is of that pestilential heresy which is daily becoming ingrained in this our Holy ...
— The Monastery • Sir Walter Scott

... professed to acknowledge, the force of the testimony from Scripture and the fathers. He is ready to join issue on this point, 'Is the Catholic doctrine true?' but for resolving this question he holds that we must have recourse to Scripture and antiquity. 'Whoever debates this question should forbear every topic derived from the nature of things, because such arguments belong only to the other question, whether the doctrine be possible, and in all reason possibility should be presupposed in all our disputes ...
— The English Church in the Eighteenth Century • Charles J. Abbey and John H. Overton

... is a wooden leg; A barren Labeo, the true mumper's fashion, Exposes borrow'd brats to move compassion. Tho' such myself, vile bards I discommend; Nay more, tho' gentle Damon is my friend. "Is 't then a crime to write?"—If talent rare Proclaim the god, the crime is to forbear: For some, tho' few, there are large-minded men, Who watch unseen the labours of the pen; Who know the muse's worth, and therefore court, Their deeds her theme, their beauty her support; Who serve, unask'd, the least pretence to wit; My sole excuse, alas! for having ...
— The Poetical Works of Edward Young, Volume 2 • Edward Young

... abiding; but he answered that he had been all too long already in Hun-land, and would ride forth to his own country. Then the queen, in her terror and despair, sought Theodoric of Verona, where he lay in his ungarnished chamber with his gangrened wounds; and he, though he could not forbear to reproach her for her little kindness to him, and though his wounds made riding grievous and fighting well-nigh impossible, yet yielded to her prayers and tears, and rode forth after the son of Waldemar. Striking spurs into the good steed Falke, he rode fast and far, and came up at ...
— Theodoric the Goth - Barbarian Champion of Civilisation • Thomas Hodgkin

... built on Moscow's plan, Thy great and little touch each other so, Let me forbear, and, as an erring man, Make ...
— Lippincott's Magazine, August, 1885 • Various

... Dante?" said Master Peter blandly (though I swear he knew what I was at). "There may be such people; doubtless there are such people. For me, I find a perpetual outlet in my art." I could not forbear—— ...
— Earthwork Out Of Tuscany • Maurice Hewlett

... Vincent has asserted, in his Periplus of the Erythrean Sea[4], that in the time of this Venetian traveller none but Arab or Malay vessels navigated the Indian Ocean. With all due deference to such high authority I cannot forbear observing that the simple relation of Marco Polo bears internal and irresistible evidence that the fleet of ships in which he sailed were Chinese, of the same kind to all intents and purposes as they ...
— Travels in China, Containing Descriptions, Observations, and Comparisons, Made and Collected in the Course of a Short Residence at the Imperial Palace of Yuen-Min-Yuen, and on a Subsequent Journey thr • John Barrow

... forbear from quietly smiling at this discreet coat-turning rhetoric. With his drawn sword he motioned to his soldiers to lower their weapons, and return to the barracks, simply leaving the usual sentries at ...
— The Day of Wrath • Maurus Jokai

... to his native village, and everybody was glad to be rid of him. One must bear and forbear with his neighbours, if he hopes to be regretted ...
— Old-Fashioned Fairy Tales • Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing

... tribes," says Volney, in his "Tableau des Etats-Unis," p. 423, "there still exists a generation of old warriors, who cannot forbear, when they see their countrymen using the hoe, from exclaiming against the degradation of ancient manners, and asserting that the savages owe their decline to these innovations; adding, that they have only to return to their primitive habits in order to recover their ...
— Democracy In America, Volume 1 (of 2) • Alexis de Tocqueville

... summons, for each loved him as his own father, and not one lurked behind. The king gave them a glad welcome, but they could not forbear shedding tears when they saw his weakness and heard his feeble voice. Athelwold let them have their way a little while, and ...
— The Red Romance Book • Various

... no longer forbear, but went immediately to the King, and on his knee begged a combat; the King, liking the courage of the pilgrim, bade him go and prosper. Whereupon Guy departed out of the North gate to Morn Hill, where Colbran, the Danish Champion, was. When Colbran espied Guy he disdained him, ...
— Traditional Nursery Songs of England - With Pictures by Eminent Modern Artists • Various

... proportional number of such monuments through its entire extent; and these two grand avenues ran through wide areas of green sward richly grouped with lofty trees. But the translator finds himself trespassing upon forbidden ground and must forbear. ...
— Memoir of an Eventful Expedition in Central America • Pedro Velasquez

... was so intensely interested in the whole weird story that, so far as I was concerned, notwithstanding the shattered state of my nerves, I asked nothing better, even if my life paid forfeit to my curiosity. What man for whom physiology has charms could forbear to study such a character as that of this Ayesha when the opportunity of doing so presented itself? The very terror of the pursuit added to its fascination, and besides, as I was forced to own to myself even now in the sober light of day, she herself had attractions ...
— She • H. Rider Haggard

... round, I know not where: I wander here, I wander there. I'd like to sleep, But must forbear: I ...
— Continental Monthly, Vol. III, No IV, April 1863 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various

... us pass over all the intermediate pounding, and grinding, and chopping, which for the next week foretold approaching festivity in the kitchen of the deacon. Let us forbear to provoke the appetite of a hungry reader by setting in order before him the minced pies, the cranberry tarts, the pumpkin pies, the doughnuts, the cookies, and other sweet cakes of every description, that sprang into being at the magic touch of Black Dinah, the ...
— The May Flower, and Miscellaneous Writings • Harriet Beecher Stowe

... aware that the girl was watching him, and, with the fascination peculiar to such a situation, he could not forbear a quick glance at her. Interest and concern showed in the brown eyes, and she smiled ...
— The Pride of Palomar • Peter B. Kyne

... besides besought them to stand by him when the King begins "to grudge and loathe his chastising him for his faults, and to impress their young King with their assent that he be chastised for his defaults or trespasses, and that for awe thereof he forbear to do amiss, and entered the more busily to ...
— Harper's Young People, March 23, 1880 - An Illustrated Weekly • Various

... visible disappointment shows how high his hopes had been raised; and I suspect he is determined they shall not be very easily pulled down. For, after having acted all his abject humility, he could not forbear again to murmur over his threats, as he was leaving the room; and there was an air of self-sufficient confidence so apparent in his face that, I am persuaded, the obstacles he has the power to raise are much greater than you, my dear friend, ...
— Anna St. Ives • Thomas Holcroft

... I was not very well pleased with all this, though I could scarce forbear smiling at a kind of innocency in these old intriguers. But it was not my view to have undergone so many sorrows for the advancement of Sheriff Miller or to make a revolution in the Parliament House: and ...
— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 11 (of 25) • Robert Louis Stevenson

... of sweetmeats, and offered him some marshmallow and jujube lozenges. The under-governors and the first valet de chambre requested her not to give the Dauphin anything, as he was to receive no food of any kind without the consent of the faculty. I forbear to describe the wound this prohibition inflicted upon the Queen; she felt it the more deeply because she was aware it was unjustly believed she gave a decided preference to the Duc de Normandie, whose ruddy health and amiability did, in truth, form a striking contrast ...
— Marguerite de Navarre - Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois Queen of Navarre • Marguerite de Navarre

... Railes forbear {To dig the dust enclosed here. {Blest bee the man who spares these stones {And Curst be he that moves ...
— Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham - A History And Guide Arranged Alphabetically • Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell

... would more readily put up with your obtaining any other request of me than that I should forbear sending to perdition this fellow ...
— The Captiva and The Mostellaria • Plautus

... "Forbear!" exclaimed Ghita, in alarm, lest he should utter the name of that holy Being toward whom her heart was even at that moment swelling with gratitude for his own recent escape from death. "Thou know'st not the meaning of thine own words, and ...
— The Wing-and-Wing - Le Feu-Follet • J. Fenimore Cooper

... but she could not forbear a friendly gibe at him. "I suppose Win Beresford wasn't there at all. He hadn't a thing to do with ...
— Man Size • William MacLeod Raine

... gipsies, or Egyptians as they were called, and wandering vagrants whose depredations had been the cause of severe legislation to rid the country of its pests. It had not occurred to Francis that she might be molested by any of these, and she could not forbear a slight scream at the appearance ...
— In Doublet and Hose - A Story for Girls • Lucy Foster Madison

... verge of tears as she was, she could not forbear smiling a little at this proclamation of complete self-effacement. "I fear I must pay some attention to you," she said, "if I am to confide in you and—and perhaps ask your help, your advice, afterwards. I have reached a point when I must ask some one's advice; I have thought myself into ...
— Shavings • Joseph C. Lincoln

... a farmer selling wood by the stick, price in proportion to its size, and as many times its value as the Rebel, by his own showing, exceeds the Yankee. Drake had money, spite of shearing and searching. He had hidden it——But I forbear to tell of what ingenious shift he had availed himself, for I remember, that, spite of its well-known loyalty, the "Atlantic Monthly" runs the blockade. First he passed the man, prudence pulling him by the sleeve, and searched lynx-eyed ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 89, March, 1865 • Various

... to be at some high festival of the M'Kenzies at Castle Braan. One of the guests was so exhilarated by the scene of gaiety, that he could not forbear an eulogium on the gallantry of the feast, and the nobleness of the guests. Kenneth, it appears, had no regard for the M'Kenzies, and was so provoked by this sally in their praise, that he not only broke ...
— Folk-Lore and Legends - Scotland • Anonymous

... not forbear one dig more. "I suppose I wanted Holt to tell her that Macdonald robbed her father and indirectly was the cause of ...
— The Yukon Trail - A Tale of the North • William MacLeod Raine

... growing crops, although his intention is not to do this harm, but to commit fornication. In this case again the quantity of the harm done aggravates the sin; indirectly, however, in so far, to wit, as it is owing to his will being strongly inclined to sin, that a man does not forbear from doing, to himself or to another, a harm which he would not wish simply. Sometimes, however, the harm is neither foreseen nor intended: and then if this harm is connected with the sin accidentally, it does not aggravate the sin directly; but, ...
— Summa Theologica, Part I-II (Pars Prima Secundae) - From the Complete American Edition • Saint Thomas Aquinas

... was ready to goe, it was observed Liford was long in writing, & sente many letters, and could not forbear to comunicate to his intimats such things as made them laugh in their sleeves, and thought he had done ther errand sufficiently. The Gov^r and some other of his freinds knowing how things stood in England, and what hurt these things might doe, tooke a shalop and ...
— Bradford's History of 'Plimoth Plantation' • William Bradford

... who had become somewhat warmed by the argument, could have pursued the discussion somewhat further; but the tones and manner of his companion, to say nothing of her words, counselled him to forbear. Still, he was not disposed altogether to give up his attempts to secure her presence for ...
— Charlemont • W. Gilmore Simms

... the door softly and, going to the bed, touched the shoulder of Caroline. The poor girl sat up slowly and turned a stained and swollen face to Ruth. If there was much to be pitied there was something to be laughed at, also. Ruth could not forbear smiling. But Caroline was clutching at ...
— Ronicky Doone • Max Brand

... can only be compensated by a virtue to some one else. Yet was I to blame in my conduct to Lucilla? Why should conscience so haunt me at that name? Did I not fly her? Was it not herself who compelled our union? Did I not cherish, respect, honour, forbear with her, more than I have since with my wedded Constance? Did I not resolve to renounce Constance herself, when most loved, for Lucilla's sake alone? Who prevented that sacrifice—who deserted me—who carved out her own separate life?—Lucilla herself. No, so far, my sin is light. But ...
— Godolphin, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... if his words are too sounding, or his sense too strong, he must be absurd, because indecently loud. And this is not the rule of an unskilful {54} impertinent Adviser, but rather of a very excellent Master in this Art; for Phoebus twitcht Virgil by the Ear, and warn'd him to forbear great Subjects: but if it ventures upon such, it may be allow'd to use some short Invocations, and, as Epicks do, modestly implore the assistance of a Muse. This Virgil doth in his Pollio, which is a Composure ...
— De Carmine Pastorali (1684) • Rene Rapin

... conspicuous instances of the confusion of text already existing, but I forbear to press them because, though I do not doubt myself the correctness of the account that has been given of them, still there is just the ambiguity alluded to, and I do not wish to seem to assume the ...
— The Gospels in the Second Century - An Examination of the Critical Part of a Work - Entitled 'Supernatural Religion' • William Sanday

... without one spark of envy, or calumny. Whatever shocked truth, raised in him an indignation which he could not master, and which accounts for that energy and fire which pervades his satires. The sight of any learned man in want, made him so uneasy, that he could not forbear lending money. His good nature and justice did farther appear in his manner of recompensing his domestics, and by his liberality to the poor. He gave by his will fifty thousand livres to the small parishes adjoining the church of Notre ...
— On the Portraits of English Authors on Gardening, • Samuel Felton

... every assembly about the hostilities of Philip, hostilities which ever since the treaty of peace he has been committing as well against you as against the rest of the Greeks; and all (I am sure) are ready to avow, though they forbear to do so, that our counsels and our measures should be directed to his humiliation and chastisement: nevertheless, so low have our affairs been brought by inattention and negligence, I fear it is a harsh truth to say, that if all the orators had sought to suggest, and you to pass ...
— The Olynthiacs and the Phillippics of Demosthenes • Demosthenes

... came to my room "to talk things over," as he put it. He was so superbly satisfied with himself and the world, I could hardly forbear a smile. ...
— Cupid's Understudy • Edward Salisbury Field

... "I forbear to enlarge on this delicate subject. Permit me only to submit to your majesty's consideration, whether his long imprisonment and the confiscation of his estate, and the indigence and dispersion of his family, and the painful anxieties ...
— Memoirs of General Lafayette • Lafayette

... comfortable; there was a table for writing; and supper would be laid in the parlour, if he should feel tired after his journey and wish to retire to bed before their return. Would he be good enough to forbear standing upon ceremony, and remember the case-bottles in the cellaret on the right-hand of the sideboard? Also, by the way, he must take temporary possession of the duplicate latchkey; and then," added Mrs. Basket, "we shall feel you are quite one ...
— The Mayor of Troy • Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

... us to its covert, we know that we shall find what we have already seen, a limpid brook murmuring over pebbles, a bank diversified with flowers, a green arch that excludes the sun, and a natural grot shaded with myrtles; yet who can forbear to enter the pleasing gloom to enjoy coolness and privacy, and gratify himself once more by scenes with which nature has formed ...
— The Works of Samuel Johnson in Nine Volumes - Volume IV: The Adventurer; The Idler • Samuel Johnson

... had suffered enough; as if the man had expiated his wrong, and he was not going to do anything to renew his penalty. I found that very curious, very delicate. His continued blame could not come to the sufferer's knowledge, but he felt it his duty to forbear it. ...
— Henry James, Jr. • William Dean Howells

... not forbear smiling at Annette's ideas of Valancourt, and repeated her enquiry, whether she had heard the servants ...
— The Mysteries of Udolpho • Ann Radcliffe

... Saprolegnei are claimed by some authors as Algae, whilst we are more disposed to regard them as closely allied to the Mucors, and as they exhibit in themselves strong evidence in support of the existence of sexual reproduction, we cannot forbear giving a summary of what has been observed by De Bary and others in this very interesting and singular group of plants, to which M. Cornu has recently ...
— Fungi: Their Nature and Uses • Mordecai Cubitt Cooke

... past the little windowed office at the end, and turning to the left into a short corridor brings us out to a set of rooms in the new extension. As we step out upon the tiny balconies at the windows, we cannot forbear exclaiming at the charm of their situation. We are directly above the torrent, which chafes along perhaps fifty feet below, and the balconies jut out over the water. Beyond it are the cliffs, rising huge before us, wooded high, but ...
— A Midsummer Drive Through The Pyrenees • Edwin Asa Dix

... swear since he was reproved. Patterson, who himself records the incident, concludes with the remark: "The spirits were drank." [Footnote: Patterson's paper, given by Col. John Mason Brown, in his excellent pamphlet on the "Battle of the Blue Licks" (Franklin, Ky., 1882). I cannot forbear again commenting on the really admirable historic work now being done by Messrs. Brown, Durrett, Speed, and the other members of the Louisville "Filson Club."] Evidently the company, who had so impartially acted as judges between their fellow-soldier and their superior ...
— The Winning of the West, Volume Two - From the Alleghanies to the Mississippi, 1777-1783 • Theodore Roosevelt

... into the ancient realms of night, is conceivable, and that, unlike the dog, she should see nothing godlike in a masterful human boy, is hardly a matter for regret; but the most subtle of dramatists should better understand the most subtle of animals, and forbear to rank her as man's enemy because she will not be man's dupe. Rather let us turn back and learn our lesson from Montaigne, serenely playing with his cat as friend to friend, for thus, and thus only, shall we enjoy the sweets of her companionship. If we want an animal to prance ...
— Americans and Others • Agnes Repplier

... not kneeling but standing! Standing in the front rank of the kneelers; unconscious, transfixed, staring. Yes, and clothed in the coarse garb of the peasantry, these two. Two halberdiers sprang at them in a fury to teach them better manners; but just as they seized them Joan cried out "Forbear!" and slid from her saddle and flung her arms about one of those peasants, calling him by all manner of endearing names, and sobbing. For it was her father; and the ...
— Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc Volume 2 • Mark Twain

... I cannot forbear acquainting you of a very curious passage in relation to Charles the Second's Restoration. Sir Wm. Morrice, who was one of the Secretaries of State soon after, was the person who chiefly transacted that affair with Monk, so that all the papers in order to it were ...
— Notes and Queries, Number 219, January 7, 1854 • Various

... idea how I have been compelled to forbear and to fence with Mr. S. to prevent his breaking off upon every possible occasion and upon any almost impossible pretext. His whole aim has been to find some excuse for throwing up the railroad and saying it was ...
— Canada and the States • Edward William Watkin

... its terms, and especially in consideration of the assurances constantly given here by delegates from slaveholding States that, whatever may be the result of our deliberations, no obstruction or hindrance will be opposed to the inauguration of Mr. LINCOLN, I have determined to forbear urging a vote. ...
— A Report of the Debates and Proceedings in the Secret Sessions of the Conference Convention • Lucius Eugene Chittenden

... speech at this part, occurring in the Journals and in both Parliamentary Histories, is to a certain extent filled up by a letter of Chamberlain to Carleton of Nov. 24; 'intimating that they should forbear needless and impertinent discourses, long and extravagant orations which the ...
— A History of England Principally in the Seventeenth Century, Volume I (of 6) • Leopold von Ranke

... said, 'you don't want your sisters to be selfish, useless, fine ladies—never doing any one any good. If they take up good works, they can't drop them entirely to wait on you. Gillian does give up a great deal, and it would be kinder to forbear a little, and not treat all she does as an injury ...
— The Two Sides of the Shield • Charlotte M. Yonge

... me the document itself to look at, and begged me to be good enough to return the Register to him as soon as done with. He evidently wished to serve me—his ignorance of responsibility without doubt proving his kindly disposition, and on that account alone I forbear to name him; but I can assure you I was heartily glad to have a letter from him in due time announcing that the precious documents were once more locked up in the parish chest. Certainly, I think such as he to be 'Enemies of ...
— Enemies of Books • William Blades



Words linked to "Forbear" :   leave behind, act, grandparent, ancestor, hold back, let it go, ascendent, forebear, spare, stand by, forbearance, refrain, ascendant, save, help oneself, antecedent, great grandparent, leave, help, sit out, root



Copyright © 2024 Dictionary One.com