to be put upon one's good behavior

1 definition found

to be put upon one's good behavior - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Behavior \Be*hav"ior\, n.
     Manner of behaving, whether good or bad; mode of conducting
     one's self; conduct; deportment; carriage; -- used also of
     inanimate objects; as, the behavior of a ship in a storm; the
     behavior of the magnetic needle.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           A gentleman that is very singular in his behavior.
                                                    --Steele.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     To be upon one's good behavior, To be put upon one's good behavior
     , to be in a state of trial, in which something
        important depends on propriety of conduct.
  
     During good behavior, while (or so long as) one conducts
        one's self with integrity and fidelity or with propriety.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Bearing; demeanor; manner.
  
     Usage: Behavior, Conduct. Behavior is the mode in which
            we have or bear ourselves in the presence of others or
            toward them; conduct is the mode of our carrying
            ourselves forward in the concerns of life. Behavior
            respects our manner of acting in particular cases;
            conduct refers to the general tenor of our actions. We
            may say of soldiers, that their conduct had been
            praiseworthy during the whole campaign, and their
            behavior admirable in every instance when they met the
            enemy.
            [1913 Webster]