betide
verb
be·tide bi-ˈtīd 
bē-
betided; betiding; betides
intransitive verb
: to happen especially as if by fate
transitive verb
: to happen to : befall —used chiefly in the phrase woe betide
woe betide our enemies
Synonyms
- be
- befall
- chance
- come
- come about
- come down
- come off
- cook
- do
- go down [slang]
- go on
- hap
- happen
- occur
- pass
- transpire
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
we will be happy in our new home, whatever may betide
Recent Examples on the Web This is a standard that the women themselves are keenly aware of, and woe betide the MILF who doesn’t fit the bill. —
Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2023 If loans to today’s students are forgiven, tomorrow’s students will have every reason to expect the same break—and woe betide the politician who says no to them. —WSJ, 7 July 2022 Pro-drainage legislation helped the process along, and woe betide the landowner who resisted his neighbor’s drain work. —Annie Proulx, The New Yorker, 27 June 2022 Like California itself, so long isolated from the East and Midwest, California fast food was the first fast food, sui generis, and woe betide most interloper chains trying to cross the Rockies and the desert to plant themselves here. —Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2022 Woe betide the author who, whether by design or coincidence, must compete with another when their two books cover the same subject on roughly the same publication date. —Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2022 Woe betide the executive who jumps the queue, as in the case of Mark Machin, a Canadian pension-fund boss who travelled to the United Arab Emirates to get the jab. —The Economist, 6 Mar. 2021 Compliance with the agency’s 15-point safety assessment is supposedly voluntary, but woe betide any company that fails to file the proper paperwork. —Orange County Register, 11 Feb. 2017 Like slow food, progressive politics, and nontoxic cleaning supplies, the lost art of correspondence is an unalterable part of this aesthetic, and woe betide the airy Web site that fails to stock a Kaweco fountain pen. —Sadie Stein, The New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2017 See More
Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2023 If loans to today’s students are forgiven, tomorrow’s students will have every reason to expect the same break—and woe betide the politician who says no to them. —WSJ, 7 July 2022 Pro-drainage legislation helped the process along, and woe betide the landowner who resisted his neighbor’s drain work. —Annie Proulx, The New Yorker, 27 June 2022 Like California itself, so long isolated from the East and Midwest, California fast food was the first fast food, sui generis, and woe betide most interloper chains trying to cross the Rockies and the desert to plant themselves here. —Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2022 Woe betide the author who, whether by design or coincidence, must compete with another when their two books cover the same subject on roughly the same publication date. —Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2022 Woe betide the executive who jumps the queue, as in the case of Mark Machin, a Canadian pension-fund boss who travelled to the United Arab Emirates to get the jab. —The Economist, 6 Mar. 2021 Compliance with the agency’s 15-point safety assessment is supposedly voluntary, but woe betide any company that fails to file the proper paperwork. —Orange County Register, 11 Feb. 2017 Like slow food, progressive politics, and nontoxic cleaning supplies, the lost art of correspondence is an unalterable part of this aesthetic, and woe betide the airy Web site that fails to stock a Kaweco fountain pen. —Sadie Stein, The New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2017 See More Word History
First Known Use
12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense
Phrases Containing betide
Kids Definition
betide
verb be·tide bi-ˈtīd
betided; betiding
: to happen or happen to
woe betide you if they ever find out what you've done
betided
verb
as in happened
to take place we will be happy in our new home, whatever may betide Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- happened
- went down
- came down
- came about
- went on
- occurred
- was
- came
- did
- came off
- transpired
- came to pass
- chanced
- befell
- cooked
- passed
- happed
- fell out
- came up
- went off
- turned out
- shaped (up)
- developed
- rose
- arose
- proceeded
- cropped (up)
- materialized
- resulted
- sprung (up)
- followed
- intervened
- sprang (up)
- broke
- swear someone to secrecy
- swear someone to silence
- swear to secrecy
- swear to silence
- swear up and down
- swear word
- swearer
- swearer-in
- swearers
- swearers-in
- swearing
- swearing in
- swearing out
- swearings
- swears
- swears in
- swears out
- swearword
- swearwords
- sweat
- sweat bee
- sweat blood
- sweat board
- sweat bullets
- sweat cloth