Verb

1. To use caution, pay attention (to) (if intransitive, construed with of).
   • , I.ii

     Beware the Ides of March.

Usage notes

The verb beware has become a defective verb and now lacks forms such as the third-person singular simple present and the simple past . It can only be used imperatively (Beware of the dog!) or as an infinitive (You must beware of the dog or They told me to beware of the dog).

The inflected forms , , and are called obsolete in Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage, along with the simple indicative "I beware". The forms and are very rarely found in modern texts, though is slightly less rare. These inflections are more likely to be found in very old texts.