bide one's time

present singular third person bides one's time · participle present biding one's time · past bode one's time · past bided one's time · participle past bidden one's time · participle past bided one's time

1. idiomaticintransitiveTo wait, especially for a suitable opportunity.

   This is the real me! The Scarlett that I've kept hidden until now. Biding my time, waiting to strike!

   2014, Total Drama: Pahkitew Island, episode 10, spoken by Scarlett (Kristi Friday), Fresh TV

   5 more examples

   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.

   1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter III, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume I (The Bride of Lammermoor), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, pages 66–67

   I sat on the rug, biding my time / Drinking her wine / We talked until two / And then she said, "it's time for bed"

   1965, Lennon–McCartney, “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”, in Rubber Soul, performed by The Beatles

   Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he’s still out there, bidin’ his time, like, but I don’ believe it.

   1999, J. K. Rowling, “The Keeper of the Keys”, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Scholastic, Inc., →ISBN, →OCLC, page 57

   There are times, Machiavelli concedes, where it might be more advantageous to be cautious and bide one's time in order to ascertain the dispensation of the goddess more clearly.

   2019, Andrew Herman, The “Better Angels” of Capitalism, Routledge, →ISBN

   Above the concourse, the underneath of the platforms has been clad with attractive wood panelling, while the columns holding them up are surrounded with seating - for use by passengers biding their time waiting for their trains, or who have used one of the 70-or-so eateries or shops that form part of the retail developments at the station.

   2022 January 12, Paul Bigland, “Fab Four: the nation's finest stations: London Bridge”, in RAIL, number 948, page 31

   Synonyms: cool one's heels, kick one's heels