Meaning & use
boding
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“boding” is a form of “bode”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitiveliterary
The -ing form of bode: being a sign that something good or bad will happen.
Grammar: Used with well or ill: boding well; sometimes takes an object: boding no good.
Patterns
- bode well for something
- bode ill for something
The early results, boding well for the team, raised hopes.
The dark clouds were boding trouble for the picnic.
Boding ill for the harvest, the river dried up in June.
nouncountable or uncountablearchaicrare
A feeling or sign of what is going to happen, especially something bad.
Grammar: Rare and old-fashioned as a noun; forebodings is more usual.
A sense of boding hung over the village that night.
She ignored the boding that her mother had spoken of.
Word forms
| base form | bode |
|---|---|
| third person singular | bodes |
| past tense | boded |
| past participle | boded |
Common combinations
- boding well
- The strong start is boding well for the season.
- boding ill
- The low turnout is boding ill for the event.
- boding evil
- The raven croaked, boding evil.
- nothing boding well
- There was nothing boding well in the forecast.
Synonyms and how they differ
- signaling
- It is neutral and everyday, while boding suggests an omen about the future.
- foreshadowing
- It is often used in stories to hint at later events, whereas boding is about real signs.
- promising
- It means showing good signs only, while boding can be good or bad.
- portending
- It is more dramatic and usually refers to something serious or bad.
Word family
- bode verb
- to be a sign of something to come
- foreboding noun
- a feeling that something bad will happen
- ominous adjective
- suggesting something bad will happen
- boded verb
- past form of bode
Commonly confused: boding or bidding?
boding vs bidding
Bidding means offering a price or ordering someone; boding means signaling what is to come.
Practice
The thick fog over the harbor was ___ ill for the boat race.
Choose one answer.
Boding ill means signaling that something bad will happen. Bonding refers to forming a close relationship, a tempting similar-sounding word.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “boding”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.