bestead

¹ American  

[bih-sted] / bɪˈstɛd /

verb (used with object)

besteaded, besteaded, bestead, besteading

1. to help; assist; serve; avail.

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bestead ² American  

[bih-sted] / bɪˈstɛd /

adjective

1. Archaic. placed or situated, often unfavorably or in difficulty.

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Etymology

Origin of bestead¹

First recorded in 1575–85; be- + stead

Origin of bestead²

1300–50; Middle English bisted, bistad, equivalent to bi be- + sted, variant of stad placed < Old Norse staddr, past participle of stethja to place, derivative of stathr place

Example Sentences

Indeed, fair lady,” he added, “bear this in mind, that we are sore bestead, and may never look 180 upon each other’s face from this night forward till we die.”

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 8 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis

And hard bestead was Sir Owen to shield himself from the smashing blows which rained upon him.

From King Arthur's Knights The Tales Re-told for Boys & Girls by Gilbert, Henry

And for he was far and fremd bestead Yslain he should have be.

From Fifteenth Century Prose and Verse by Various

The fair, bright ribbon of the hours— A mountain brook bestead through flowers— Runs, a dear line, from you to you.

From Sonnets and Songs by Whitney, Helen Hay

XX Thus with distress and sorrow was Etzel ill bestead, Right bitterly bewailing his kin and subjects dead.

From The Nibelungenlied Revised Edition by Unknown