All 4 Uses of
bestow
in
The Merry Wives of Windsor
- If I find her honest, I lose not my labour; if she be otherwise, 'tis labour well bestowed.†
Scene 2.1 *bestowed = gave
- I have long loved her, and, I protest to you, bestowed much on her; followed her with a doting observance; engrossed opportunities to meet her; fee'd every slight occasion that could but niggardly give me sight of her; not only bought many presents to give her, but have given largely to many to know what she would have given; briefly, I have pursued her as love hath pursued me; which hath been on the wing of all occasions.†
Scene 2.2
- How should I bestow him?†
Scene 4.2bestow = give
- And so they shall be both bestowed.†
Scene 4.5bestowed = gave
Definitions:
-
(1)
(bestow) to give -- typically to present as an honor or give as a gift
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much more rarely, in classic literature, bestow can also mean to give more generally or to put, place, or store (to stow) something somewhere.