bitey

Inclined to bite.

Adjective

  1. Inclined to bite.
    • So when someone tells you their little trick for dealing with a bitey horse, just remember that that is what it is — a little trick. - 2005, Tom Widdicombe, Be with Your Horse: Getting to the Heart of Horsemanship:
    • It has all the beauty of an idyllic tropical island without any of the nasty, bitey stuff. - 2006, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch: One Man, One Continent, a Race Against Time:
  2. Having a sharp or spicy flavor.

Origin

From bite + -y (suffix forming adjectives). Compare West Frisian bitsich (“snappy”), Saterland Frisian bieterg (“snappish”), German Low German bittsig (“snappy”), German bissig (“snappy, snappish”).

Forms

bitier bitiest

Derived

biteyness bitey thing

Noun

  1. An animal that bites or stings.

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- Proto-Indo-European *bʰéydt Proto-Germanic *bītaną Proto-West Germanic *bītan Old English bītan Middle English biten English bite English -y English bitey From bite + -y (suffix forming nouns).

Forms

biteys