Word OriginMiddle English: from be- (as an intensifier) + obsolete tide ‘befall’, from Old English tīdan ‘happen’, from tīd ‘time, period, era’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch tijd and German Zeit, also to time.
Idioms
See betide in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarywoe betide somebody | woe to somebody
- (formal or humorous) a phrase that is used to warn somebody that there will be trouble for them if they do something or do not do something
- Woe betide anyone who gets in her way!
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betide