bide one's time
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Wait patiently for the right moment to act
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Chờ đợi kiên nhẫn đến lúc thích hợp để hành động
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: remain in one's place
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
She will bide her time until the perfect job opportunity comes along
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “bide one's time” mean?
Wait patiently for the right moment to act Literally: remain in one's place
Is “bide one's time” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.