bide (one's) time
To delay some action until an ideal moment or situation reveals itself. I'm just biding my time in an office job until a tenure-track position opens up at one of the local colleges. I never forgot the way he bullied and humiliated me in high school, but I chose to bide my time. Ten years later, my global corporation bought his family's puny company and exploited it for everything it was worth, leaving him penniless. Just bide your time as an intern and make a good impression at the company. That way, they'll keep you in mind for future jobs.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
bide one's time
Wait for the opportune moment, as in The cat sat in front of the mousehole, biding its time. This phrase employs the verb to bide in the sense of "to wait for," a usage dating from about a.d. 950 and surviving mainly in this locution.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
bide one's time, to
To wait for the right moment to speak or take action. The verb to bide, meaning “to wait for” since about the year 950, survives today only in this cliché. Frederick W. Robertson used the expression in a sermon (1853): “They bide their time and suddenly represent themselves.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer