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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
bestow
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
on
▪ It was as if our dealings with Mr Hall had bestowed on us some sort of special status.
■ NOUN
gift
▪ He bestowed a precious gift, Touching Mankind's soul world-wide.
▪ By bestowing gifts of monopoly and protection, mercantilist policies paralyzed the body politic.
▪ Besides, how have you bestowed this gift?
▪ The lamp genie: He could bestow the most fabulous gifts imaginable, and his power seemingly had no end.
honour
▪ Council leaders want to bestow the highest honour they can in recognition of Clough's achievements with Nottingham Forest.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But she did believe that her revelations had not been bestowed upon her for herself but for everybody.
▪ How does a woman with a large inheritance commonly bestow it on a man?
▪ I intend to bestow upon you unsolicited advice, my darling.
▪ Ishmael is still not satisfied that he has bestowed enough dignity on the profession of whaling.
▪ It has no other being except that which is bestowed upon it by human activity and consciousness.
▪ That, sadly, is a market at work, and suppressing it would only bestow the seedy glamour of the underground.
▪ There may be some musical magic which only practice can bestow.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Bestow

Bestow \Be*stow"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bestowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Bestowing.] [OE. bestowen; pref. be- + stow a place. See Stow.]

  1. To lay up in store; to deposit for safe keeping; to stow; to place; to put. ``He bestowed it in a pouch.''
    --Sir W. Scott.

    See that the women are bestowed in safety.
    --Byron.

  2. To use; to apply; to devote, as time or strength in some occupation.

  3. To expend, as money. [Obs.]

  4. To give or confer; to impart; -- with on or upon.

    Empire is on us bestowed.
    --Cowper.

    Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor.
    --1 Cor. xiii. 3.

  5. To give in marriage.

    I could have bestowed her upon a fine gentleman.
    --Tatler.

  6. To demean; to conduct; to behave; -- followed by a reflexive pronoun. [Obs.]

    How might we see Falstaff bestow himself to-night in his true colors, and not ourselves be seen ?
    --Shak.

    Syn: To give; grant; present; confer; accord.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
bestow

early 14c., bistowen "give" (as alms, etc.), from be- + stowen "to place" (see stow). Related: Bestowed; bestowing; bestower.\n

Wiktionary
bestow

vb. 1 (context transitive English) To lay up in store; deposit for safe keeping; stow; place. 2 (context transitive English) To lodge, or find quarters for; provide with accommodation. 3 (context transitive English) To dispose of. 4 (context transitive English) To give; confer; impart gratuitously; present something to someone as a gift or honour. 5 (context transitive English) To give in marriage. 6 (context transitive English) To apply; make use of; use; employ. 7 (context transitive obsolete English) To behave or deport.

WordNet
bestow
  1. v. present; "The university conferred a degree on its most famous former student, who never graduated"; "bestow an honor on someone" [syn: confer]

  2. give as a gift

  3. bestow a quality on; "Her presence lends a certain cachet to the company"; "The music added a lot to the play"; "She brings a special atmosphere to our meetings"; "This adds a light note to the program" [syn: lend, impart, contribute, add, bring]

Usage examples of "bestow".

He therefore rejoiced in the hope of seeing his own son accommodated with such a faithful attendant, in the person of young Fathom, on whom he resolved to bestow the same education he had planned for the other, though conveyed in such a manner as should be suitable to the sphere in which he was ordained to move.

An allele that might not have come to the surface for years had Woytowich not been so keen on bestowing super-stimulated intelligence on her.

She bestowed five thousand pounds per annum, out of the post-office, on the duke of Marlborough: she suffered seven hundred pounds to be charged weekly on the same office, for the service of the public: she expended several hundred thousand pounds in building the castle of Blenheim: she allowed four thousand pounds annually to prince Charles of Denmark: she sustained great loses by the tin contract: she supported the poor Palatines: she exhibited many other proofs of royal bounty: and immediately before her death she had formed a plan of retrenchment, which would have reduced her yearly expenses to four hundred and fifty-nine thousand nine hundred and forty-one pounds.

The divine sanction, which the Apostle had bestowed on the fundamental principle of the theology of Plato, encouraged the learned proselytes of the second and third centuries to admire and study the writings of the Athenian sage, who had thus marvellously anticipated one of the most surprising discoveries of the Christian revelation.

The strangers of the West had violated the city, and bestowed the sceptre, of Constantine: their Imperial clients soon became as unpopular as themselves: the well-known vices of Isaac were rendered still more contemptible by his infirmities, and the young Alexius was hated as an apostate, who had renounced the manners and religion of his country.

The same assiduous cultivation was bestowed, though not perhaps with equal success, to improve the minds of the sons and nephews of Constantine.

To take thought, not where your benefit will be best bestowed, but where it may be most profitably placed at interest, from whence you will most easily get it back, is not bestowal of benefits, but usury.

Besides this you inquire where and how you ought to bestow a benefit, which would not need to be done if the bestowal of a benefit was desirable in itself: because in whatever place and whatever manner it might be bestowed, it still would be a benefit.

Dodwell, the whole host of martyrs, which owe their existence to the prodigal invention of later days, had he but bestowed fair room, and dwelt with his ordinary energy on the sufferings of the genuine witnesses to the truth of Christianity, the Polycarps, or the martyrs of Vienne.

The appellation of Roumelia, which is still bestowed by the Turks on the extensive countries of Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece, preserves the memory of their ancient state under the Roman empire.

Notwithstanding the repairs bestowed on that ancient edifice by a king of Cappadocia, it was again fallen to decay.

It may not be unpleasing to collect a few scattered instances relative to that subject without forgetting, however, that from the vanity of nations and the poverty of language, the vague appellation of city has been indifferently bestowed on Rome and upon Laurentum.

Prince of the Senate, which had always been bestowed, by the censors, on the citizen the most eminent for his honors and services.

In his Meditations, he thanks the gods, who had bestowed on him a wife so faithful, so gentle, and of such a wonderful simplicity of manners.

Severus considered the Roman empire as his property, and had no sooner secured the possession, than he bestowed his care on the cultivation and improvement of so valuable an acquisition.