Forbear

Verb

 * 1)  To keep away from; to avoid; to abstain from; to give up.
 * 2)  To refrain from proceeding; to pause; to delay.
 * 3)  To refuse; to decline; to give no heed.
 * 4)  To control oneself when provoked.

Noun

 * 1) * [1906] 2004, Memoirs of the Lord of Joinville, Ethel Wedgwood tr.
 * Sirs, I am quite sure that the King of England's forbears rightly and justly lost the conquered lands that I hold [...]
 * 1) * [1936] 2004, Raymond William Firth, We the Tikopia
 * One does not take one’s family name therefrom, and again the position of the mother in that group is determined through her father and his male forbears in turn; this too is a patrilineal group.
 * 1) * 1997, H. L. Hix, Understanding W. S. Merwin
 * Beginning with the bald declaration “I think I was cold in the womb,” the speaker in “The Forbears” then decides that his brother (who died soon after birth) must also have been cold in the womb, like his grandfather John and the forbears who antedated John:
 * Beginning with the bald declaration “I think I was cold in the womb,” the speaker in “The Forbears” then decides that his brother (who died soon after birth) must also have been cold in the womb, like his grandfather John and the forbears who antedated John:

Synonyms for Forbear
abstain, refrain, pause, restrain, defer, avoid, desist, spare, delay, stop, cease, bear, tolerate, endure, suffer, stay.

Antonyms for Forbear
act, insist, accomplish, perform, do, persist, proceed, persevere, continue, pursue.

Related terms

 * forbearance
 * forbearant

Thesaurus
abstain, abstain from, avoid, be patient, bear, bear with composure, bridle, carry on, carry through, cease, curb, desist, dispense with, do without, endure, escape, eschew, evade, forgive, forgo, give quarter, have mercy upon, have pity, hold, hold aloof from, hold back, hold off, inhibit, keep, keep back, keep from, keep in hand, let alone, let go by, let up on, melt, never touch, not touch, not use, pardon, pass up, refrain, refrain from, relax, relent, reprieve, reserve, restrain, sacrifice, save, shun, spare, stand aloof from, suffer, take pity on, thaw, tolerate, wait, wait it out, waive, withhold

Etymology 1
forberen:, from forberan:. More at.

Verb

 * Dutch: zich onthouden
 * Finnish: ,


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 * Finnish: ,