tolerate verb
1 allow sth you do not like
ADV. barely | merely She actually seemed pleased to see him: most of her visitors she merely tolerated. | grudgingly | officially Union activity was officially tolerated but strongly discouraged. | no longer The government is not prepared to tolerate this situation any longer.
VERB + TOLERATE be unable to, (not) be prepared to, (not) be willing to, cannot/could not, find sth difficult to, will/would not I will not tolerate this behaviour!
2 not be affected by difficult conditions
ADV. readily, well This plant prefers alkaline soil, though it will readily tolerate some acidity. She tolerated the chemotherapy well.
VERB + TOLERATE be unable to, cannot/could not, find/make sth difficult to, will/would not people whose eye condition makes it difficult to tolerate bright light
v.
I cannot bear his constant criticism
The new secretary had to endure a lot of unprofessional remarks
he learned to tolerate the heat
She stuck out two years in a miserable marriage
We must tolerate the religions of others
The patient does not tolerate the anti-inflammatory drugs we gave him
We don't allow dogs here
Children are not permitted beyond this point
We cannot tolerate smoking in the hospital