verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To shield; hide. Scotland, transitive
2. 2
   To blow or toss about; blow, waft, or sweep away. intransitive
3. 3
   To lay wait for; overpower by means of some base stratagem. Scotland, transitive
4. 4
   To wander or waver. Scotland, intransitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English biweven, biwǣven, from Old English bewǣfan (“to enfold, wrap round, cover over, clothe”).

Etymology 2

From be- + wave.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.