bite

The act of biting.

Noun

  1. The act of biting.
    • […]I have knowne a very good Fiſher angle diligently four or ſix hours in a day, for three or four dayes together for a River Carp, and not have a bite[…] - 1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], chapter VIII, in The Compleat Angler...
    • Now trust me when I tell you, young lady, teeth are something you want to take care of. They’re these rare white things that give us pleasure throughout our life. And give us bite. Our inheritance. Our means of...
  2. The wound left behind after having been bitten.
    • That snake bite really hurts!
  3. The swelling of one's skin caused by an insect's mouthparts or sting.
    • After just one night in the jungle I was covered with mosquito bites.

    Synonyms: sting

  4. A piece of food of a size that would be produced by biting; a mouthful.
    • There were only a few bites left on the plate.
    • Not a soul in Corlaix will dare give us bite, sup, or shelter; and we shall die starved in a ditch, all four of us—that much we are our own, but in all else we are Monseigneur’s; all else, I say, all—all. - 1906,...
  5. Something unpleasant.
    • In February of this year, 9to5 was forced to lay off four of its paid staff, and began to feel the bite of its high-rent downtown office space. - 1985 December 7, Sib Connor, “9to5: Still Putting In A Day's Work”, in...
  6. An act of plagiarism.
    • That song is a bite of my song!
  7. A small meal or snack.
    • a bite to eat
    • I'll have a quick bite to quiet my stomach until dinner.
    • Wilma, I promise you one thing. Whatever scum is behind this, not a single cop on this police force will have a minute's rest until he's behind bars. Now let's grab a bite to eat. - 1988, The Naked Gun: From the Files...
  8. incisiveness, provocativeness, exactness.
  9. Aggression.
    • Kathy Santen is full of bite as the bizarrely seduced Lady Anne, although her exaggerated diction is a bit too snappishly Shakespearean. - 1996 April 22, Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times:
    • In Tarabai’s text this exposure is direct, unusually blunt, full of bite and ridicule, and highly polemical. - 1998, Vidyut Bhagwat, “Pandita Ramabai’s Strī-Dharma Nīti and Tarabai Shinde’s Strī-Puruṣ Tulanā: The Inner...
    • City scored the goals but periods of ball possession were shared - the difference being Villa lacked bite in the opposition final third. - 2011 March 2, Saj Chowdhury, “Man City 3 - 0 Aston Villa”, in BBC:
  10. The hold which the short end of a lever has upon the thing to be lifted, or the hold which one part of a machine has upon another.
  11. A cheat; a trick; a fraud.
    • The baser methods of getting money by fraud and bite, by deceiving and overreaching. - 1725, Thomas Gordon, The Humorist:
  12. A sharper; one who cheats.
    • [I]t was conjectured, that Peregrine was a bite from the beginning, who had found credit on account of his effrontery and appearance, and impoſed himſelf upon the town as a young gentleman of fortune. - 1751, [Tobias]...
    • So he went home cursing the Yorkshire bites, and swearing there was no living among them […] - 1828, The Newcastle Magazine, volume 7, page 85:

Origin

From Middle English biten, from Old English bītan (“bite”), from Proto-West Germanic *bītan, from Proto-Germanic *bītaną (“bite”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“split”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian biete (“bite”), West Frisian bite (“bite”), Dutch bijten (“bite”), German Low German bieten (“bite”), German beißen, beissen (“bite”), Danish bide (“bite”), Swedish bita (“bite”), Norwegian Bokmål bite (“bite”), Norwegian Nynorsk bita (“bite”), Faroese and Icelandic bíta (“bite”), Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (beitan, “bite”), Latin findō (“split”), Ancient Greek φείδομαι (pheídomai), Sanskrit भिद् (bhid, “break”).

Forms

bites

Related

beetle bit

Derived

afterbite all bark and no bite all bark but no bite all bark no bite bee bite bite at the apple bite at the cherry bite cell biteforce biteful bite indicator biteless bitemark bite of the apple bite of the cherry bite of the reality sandwich bite point biteproof bite-size bite-sized bitesome bite stick bite suit bite to eat

Verb

  1. To cut into something by clamping the teeth.
    • As soon as you bite that sandwich, you'll know how good it is.
  2. To hold something by clamping one's teeth.
  3. To attack with the teeth.
    • That dog is about to bite!
  4. To behave aggressively; to reject advances.
    • If you see me, come and say hello. I don't bite.
  5. To take hold; to establish firm contact with.
    • I needed snow chains to make the tires bite.
  6. To have significant effect, often negative.
    • For homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages, rising interest will really bite.
  7. To bite a baited hook or other lure and thus be caught.
    • Are the fish biting today?
  8. To accept something offered, often secretly or deceptively, to cause some action by the acceptor.
    • I've planted the story. Do you think they'll bite?
  9. To sting.
    • These mosquitoes are really biting today!
  10. To cause a smarting sensation; to have a property which causes such a sensation; to be pungent.
    • It bites like pepper or mustard.
  11. To cause sharp pain or damage to; to hurt or injure.
    • Pepper bites the mouth.
    • […]froſts doe bite the Meads[…] - c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard,...
  12. To cause sharp pain; to produce anguish; to hurt or injure; to have the property of so doing.
    • At the laſt it [wine] biteth like a ſerpent, and ſtingeth like ‖ an adder. - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 23:32, column 1:

Forms

bites biting bit bitten

Hyponyms

bite down

Related

bitter

Derived

abite backbite barking dogs never bite barking dogs seldom bite bit by a barn mouse biteable bite and smile bite back bitee bite in bite in the arse bite in the ass bite it bite me bite my ass bite my shiny metal ass bite off bite off more than one can chew bite one's knuckle bite one's lip bite one's nails bite one's thumb bite one's tongue bite on granite