bebother en · VERB
Pronunciation
- /bəˈbɒðə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /bəˈbɑðɚ/ (General-American)
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épider. Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi Proto-Germanic *bider. Proto-Germanic *bi- Proto-West Germanic *bi- Old English be- Middle English bi- English be- English bother English bebother From be- (“thoroughly”) + bother.
Meanings
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(transitive) To bring trouble upon.
‘[…]But above all ... above all, you are the bewitching bebothering and bewildering Evita!'
1990, Pieter-Dirk Uys, A Part Hate, A Part Love: The Biography of Evita Bezuidenhout, page 185:“There is brass for all. Just home, paid off—and find my wife dead—and me saddled with the yowling kid. I’m off to sea again. Don’t see no sport widering here all bebothered with a baby.”
1896, Sabine Baring-Gould, The Broom-Squire, published 1905, page 6:At present I am all upside down—nohow—bebothered—& can only write this much.
1908, Edward Lear, Letters of Edward Lear to Chichester Fortescue, Lord Carlingford, and Frances, Countess Waldegrave, page 114:
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(euphemistic, imperative) Damn; curse.
‘Confusticate and bebother these dwarves!’ he said aloud.
1937, J. R. R. Tolkien, chapter 1, in The Hobbit:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| bebothering | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| bebothered | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| bebothered | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| bebothers | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic |
Translations (3)
fi olla vaivaksi (to bring trouble upon) · fi vaivata (to bring trouble upon) · sv besvära (to bring trouble upon)