Abide — A Vocabulary Story
The Fort of Very Serious Rules
Charles built the greatest cushion fort the living room had ever seen. It had a flag (a sock), a door (a tea towel), and a sign that read: RULES OF THE FORT. ABIDE BY THEM OR ELSE.
Abide means to tolerate or put up with something. It can also mean to accept and act according to a rule or decision, or to stay or continue in a place.
Rule one: no crumbs. Charles could not abide crumbs. They got everywhere, they were scratchy, and once a crumb had gone up his nose during a sneeze, which he still talked about.
Rule two: knock before entering. Even though the door was a tea towel.
His little sister Florence arrived holding a biscuit the size of her face.
"Rule one!" cried Charles, pointing at the sign.
"But I abided by rule two," said Florence proudly. "I knocked on the tea towel. It went fwump."
This was true. Charles frowned. She had followed one rule perfectly and broken the other spectacularly. The biscuit was already snowing crumbs onto the carpet.
"Eat it outside the fort," he said, "then come in."
Florence gobbled the biscuit in the hallway, brushed herself down like a cat, and crawled inside. Together they added rule three: biscuits must be eaten at the hallway border. Florence signed it with a wobble-free swirl.
Mum poked her head in later and found them guarding the flag-sock side by side. "Any room for me?"
"Only if you abide by the rules," said Charles solemnly.
Mum knocked on the tea towel. Fwump. And so began a long and abiding peace in the fort, crumb-free and glorious.
Word Definition
abide
meaning
to tolerate or put up with something; to accept and act according to a rule or decision; to stay or continue in a place
synonyms
tolerate · endure · bear · stand · obey
antonyms
defy · disobey · resist
example sentence
I cannot abide rude behaviour from anyone.