All 3 Uses of
forbearance
in
The Poisonwood Bible
- We had known him to forbear with a silent grimace when Methuselah said, "Piss off," but of course that was the doing of Brother Fowles.†
Chpt 1forbear = refrain (hold back) from acting
- I'm sure the Congolese heard it every day for a hundred years while they had to forbear the Belgians.
Chpt 5 *forbear = tolerate; or refrain from acting
- What do people here know but forbearance?†
Chpt 5forbearance = refraining (holding back) from acting OR patience, tolerance, or self-control
Definitions:
-
(1)
(forbearance) patience, tolerance, or self-control
or:
refraining (holding back) from acting -- especially temporarily not collecting debt payments on a loanThe word, forbearance, is commonly used in the field of law to indicate that a legal right, claim or privilege is not being enforced. -
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
The form, forbears is typically a verb, but can be an alternate spelling of the noun forebears; i.e., ancestors. Note that these words put the emphasis on different syllables: for-BEARS v. FORE-bears