bestand

present singular third person bestands · participle present bestanding · participle past bestood · past bestood

1. transitiveTo stand by or near; stand around.
2. transitiveTo beset; stand around in hostility; harass.

   [...] that is my lord and uncle King Arthur, for he is full straitly bestood [sore beset] with a false traitor, which is my half brother Sir Mordred, [...]

   1880, Sidney Lanier, Alfred Kappes, Sir Thomas Malory, The Boy's King Arthur

3. transitiveTo surround; encompass.

   Wherefore the Brittishe bisshops, bestood with weapons and enemies, when thei coulde not execute all functions, and perceaved that the prelates their neighbours weare prompte to assiste them, [...]

   1846, Polydore Vergil, Sir Henry Ellis, Polydore Vergil's English history

4. transitiveTo serve; be of service to; be ready to serve or aid.

   Would not children come kindly to such out-of-door lessons, and to such practical knowledge as would always bestand them well?

   1907, Donald Grant Mitchell, The works of Donald G. Mitchell

   1 more example

   [...] and, inherited Puritan crust of stiffness that rarely left him, and which bestood him well under the ceremonials of his mission, whether at London (1846- 49) or later (1867-74) in Berlin.

   1904, Donald Grant Mitchell, American Lands and Letters

   Synonyms: bestead