Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Beware

Be·ware′ (bē·wâr′), v. i. [Be, imperative of verb to be + ware. See Ware, Wary.] 1. To be on one's guard; to be cautious; to take care; — commonly followed by of or lest before the thing that is to be avoided.

Beware of all, but most beware of man ! Pope.

Beware the awful avalanche. Longfellow.

2. To have a special regard; to heed. [Obs.]

Behold, I send an Angel before thee. . . . Beware of him, and obey his voice. Ex. xxiii. 20, 21.

☞ This word is a compound from be and the Old English ware, now wary, which is an adjective. "Be ye war of false prophetis." Wyclif, Matt. vii. 15. It is used commonly in the imperative and infinitive modes, and with such auxiliaries (shall, should, must, etc.) as go with the infinitive.

Be·ware′ (bē·wâr′), v. t. To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for. [Obs.] "Priest, beware your beard." Shak.

To wish them beware the son. Milton.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.