Definition of "bestow"

To apply or make use of (someone or something); to employ, to use.  quotations

1. (specifically, obsolete) To apply (money) for some purpose; to expend, to spend.  quotations

   Quotations

   • O if I had had time to haue made nevv liueries: I vvoulde haue beſtovved the thouſand pound I borrovved of you, but tis no matter, this poore ſhevv doth better, this doth inferre the zeale I had to ſee him.

     c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, [Act V, scene v]

   • And thou ſhalt beſtow that money for whatſoeuer thy ſoule lutſeth after, for oxen, or for ſheepe, or for wine, or for ſtrong drinke, or for whatſoeuer thy ſoule deſireth: and thou ſhalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou ſhalt reioyce, thou and thine houſhold.

     1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Deuteronomy 14:26, column 1

To impart (something) gratuitously; to present (something) to someone or something, especially as a gift or an honour; to confer, to give.  quotations  examples

(archaic)

1. To place or put (someone or something) somewhere or in a certain situation; to dispose of.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • The diuell take the one partie, / And his dam the other, / And theyle be both beſtovved. / I haue endured more for their ſakes, / Then man is able to endure.That is, the two wives will be placed in hell by the Devil and his wife.

     c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, […] [T]he Merrie Wiues of Windsor. […] (First Quarto), London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for Arthur Ihonson, […], published 1602, [Act IV, scene v]

   • Moreover I haue […] beſtovved the chiefe grounds, Principles, Rules, and Obſeruations [of heraldry] vnder their proper heads, and manifeſted their vſe by examples of ſpeciall choice, […]

     1610, John Guillim, “To the Courteous Reader”, in A Display of Heraldrie: […], London: […] William Hall for Raphe Mab, published 1611

   • Here are blank warrants of all dispositions; give me but the name and nature of your malefactor, and I'll bestow him according to his merits.

     c. 1615–1617 (date written; published 1652), Thomas Middleton, “The Widow”, in A[rthur] H[enry] Bullen, editor, The Works of Thomas Middleton […] (The English Dramatists), volume V, London: John C. Nimmo […], published 1885, Act I, scene i, page 128, lines 65–68

   • VVith Bread the glitt’ring Caniſters they load, / VVhich round the Board Menætius’s Son beſtovv’d; […]

     1717, Homer, [Alexander] Pope, transl., “Book IX”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume III, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], page 16, lines 283–284

   • The white domestic pigeon pairs secure, / Nay, does mere duty by bestowing egg / In authorized compartment, warm and safe, / Boarding about, and gilded spire above, / Hoisted on pole, to dogs' and cats' despair!

     1873 January 23, Robert Browning, “Part II”, in Red Cotton Night-Cap Country: Or Turf and Towers, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], page 116

2. To deposit (something) for safekeeping; to lay up (something) in store; to stow.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • The londes of a certayne man brought forth frutes plenteouſly⸝ and he thought in hym ſilfe ſayinge: whatt ſhall I do⸝ becauſe I have noo roume where to beſtowe my frutes?

     1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], The Gospell off S. Luke xij:, folio xcvij, recto

   • Novv as I am a Chriſtian anſvver me, / In vvhat ſafe place you haue beſtovv'd my monie; / Or I ſhall breake that merrie ſconce of yours / That ſtands on tricks, vvhen I am vndiſpos'd: / VVhere is the thouſand Markes thou hadſt of me?

     c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene ii], page 87, column 1

   • Near unto Aſſos, a citie in Troas, there is found in the quarries a certaine ſtone called Sarcophagus, […] The reaſon of the name is this, becauſe that vvithin the ſpace of fortie daies it is knovvne for certain to conſume the bodies of the dead vvhich are beſtovved therein, skin, fleſh, and bone, all ſave the teeth.

     1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XXXVI.] Of Certaine Stones which will Quickly Consume the Bodies that be Laid therein. Of Others Againe that Preserve Them a Long Time. Of the Stone Called Assius, and the Medicinable Properties thereof.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 2nd tome, London: […] Adam Islip, published 1635, page 587

   • But as ſome of the Oxen in driving, miſſed their fellovvs behind and honing after them, bellovved as their nature is: Hercules chanced to heare them lovv again, and anſvver from out of the cave vvherein they had been beſtovved: vvhereat he turned back, and made haſte thither.

     1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book I]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], page 6

   • Of the Three Rings that the Elves had preserved unsullied no open word was ever spoken among the Wise, and few even of the Eldar knew where they were bestowed.

     a. 1974 (date written), J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age: In which These Tales Come to Their End”, in Christopher Tolkien, editor, The Silmarillion, 1st American edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company, published 15 September 1977, page 298

3. (also reflexive) To provide (someone or oneself) with accommodation; to find quarters for (someone or oneself); to lodge, to quarter.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • The ſixteene daye of May they were al beſtovved abourd in Spaniſh ſhippes furniſhed with victual, & other neceſſaries for that iourney.

     1577, Raphaell Holinshed, “King Henry the Eyghte”, in The Laste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume II, London: […] for Iohn Hunne, page 1472, column 2

   • […] I heare / Macduffe liues in diſgrace. Sir, can you tell / VVhere he beſtovves himſelfe?

     c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene vi], page 143

   • VVell my Maſters, I'le leaue him with you; novv I ſee him beſtovv'd, I'le goe looke for my goods, and Numps.

     1614 November 10 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Beniamin Iohnson [i.e., Ben Jonson], Bartholmew Fayre: A Comedie, […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot, […], published 1631, Act IIII, scene i, page 51

   • See that the women are bestow'd in safety / In the remote apartments: let a guard / Be set before them, with strict charge to quit / The post but with their lives— […]

     1821, Lord Byron, “Sardanapalus”, in Sardanapalus, a Tragedy; The Two Foscari, a Tragedy; Cain, a Mystery, London: John Murray, […], Act III, scene i, page 87

   • And meanwhile / Shall the Refectorarius bestow / Your horses and attendants for the night.

     1851, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Golden Legend, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, page 185

(obsolete)

1. (reflexive) To behave or conduct (oneself); to acquit.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Novv therefore vvould I haue thee to my Tutor / (For long agone I haue forgot to court, / Beſides the faſhion of the time is chang'd) / Hovv, and vvhich vvay I may beſtovv my ſelfe / To be regarded in her ſun-bright eye.

     c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene i], page 29, column 1

   • Hovv might vve ſee Falſtaffe beſtovv himſelf to night in his true colours, and not our ſelues be ſeene?

     c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, [Act II, scene ii]

   • He all aſſayls, and him ſo braue beſtovves, / That in his Fight he deals more deaths than blovves.

     1608, [Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas], “[Du Bartas His Second VVeeke, […].Abraham. […].] The Vocation. The I. Part of the III. Day of the II. Week.”, in Josuah Sylvester, transl., Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Humfrey Lownes [and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson […]], published 1611, page 401

   • They knovv not […] vvhat to do, or othervviſe hovv to beſtovv themſelves: like our moderne Frenchmen, that had rather loſe a pound of bloud in a ſingle combate, then a drop of ſvveat in any honeſt labour.

     1638, Democritus Junior for Henry Cripps, partition 2, section 2, member 4, page 263

2. (also reflexive) To give (someone or oneself) in marriage.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • You ſay, if I bring in your Roſalinde, / You vvill beſtovv her on Orlando heere?

     c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene iv], page 205, column 2

   • I could have bestowed her upon a fine gentleman, who extremely admired her wit, and would have given her a coach and six: […]

     1709 October 12 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [et al., pseudonyms; Joseph Addison; Richard Steele], “Saturday, October 1, 1709”, in The Tatler, number 75; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume II, London: I. Walker and Co.; […], 1822, page 26

(obsolete, rare) An act of presenting a thing to someone or something, especially as a gift or an honour; a bestowal.  quotations