Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Forbear

Forbear (for*bâr") , noun

[See Fore, and Bear to produce.]

An ancestor; a forefather; -- usually in the plural. [Scottish]
Your forbears of old. — Sir W. Scott

Forbear (for*bâr") , intransitive verb

[Old English forberen, Anglo-Saxon forberan; pref. for- + beran to bear. See Bear to support.]

1.
To refrain from proceeding; to pause; to delay. [Obsolete]
Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? — 1 Kings xxii. 6
2.
To refuse; to decline; to give no heed.
Thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. — Ezek. ii. 7
3.
To control one's self when provoked.
The kindest and the happiest pair Will find occasion to forbear. — Cowper
Both bear and forbear. — Old Proverb

Forbear , transitive verb

1.
To keep away from; to avoid; to abstain from; to give up; as, to forbear the use of a word of doubtful propriety.
But let me that plunder forbear. — Shenstone
The King In open battle or the tilting field Forbore his own advantage. — Tennyson
2.
To treat with consideration or indulgence.
Forbearing one another in love. — Eph. iv. 2
3.
To cease from bearing. [Obsolete]
Whenas my womb her burden would forbear. — Spenser