idiom · neutral
bide one's time
/baɪd wʌnz taɪm/BIDE one's TIME
to wait patiently for a good opportunity to do something
Examples
“He decided to bide his time and watch the market before investing.”
“Rather than complaining, she bided her time and learned more skills.”
“They bided their time until the contract terms improved.”
Band 8 sentence
“Rather than launching immediately, the company wisely bided its time until regulatory clarity emerged.”
Collocations
- bide one's time before + -ing
Word family
Common mistakes
He bide time until he got promoted.→He bided his time until he got promoted.
She waited the time for a better offer.→She bided her time for a better offer.
Say it for a higher band
5wait→6wait patiently→7+bide one's time
Synonyms
wait patiently
Easily confused
wait
“Sometimes it's better to wait and gather more information.”
Related words
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In Time
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