bait definition | Dictionary.com

bait

[beyt]

–noun

1.	food, or some substitute, used as a lure in fishing, trapping, etc.

2.	a poisoned lure used in exterminating pests.

3.	an allurement; enticement: Employees were lured with the bait of annual bonuses.

4.	an object for pulling molten or liquefied material, as glass, from a vat or the like by adhesion.

South Midland and Southern U.S.

a.	a large or sufficient quantity or amount: He fetched a good bait of wood.

b.	an excessive quantity or amount.

6.	British Slang. food.

–verb (used with object)

7.	to prepare (a hook or trap) with bait.

8.	to entice by deception or trickery so as to entrap or destroy: using fake signal lights to bait the ships onto the rocks.

9.	to attract, tempt, or captivate.

10.	to set dogs upon (an animal) for sport.

11.	to worry, torment, or persecute, esp. with malicious remarks: a nasty habit of baiting defenseless subordinates.

12.	to tease: They love to bait him about his gaudy ties.

13.	to feed and water (a horse or other animal), esp. during a journey.

–verb (used without object) Archaic.

14.	to stop for food or refreshment during a journey.

15.	(of a horse or other animal) to take food; feed.

Origin:
1150–1200; ME bait, beit (n.), baiten (v.) < ON, prob. reflecting both beita to pasture, hunt, chase with dogs or hawks (ult. causative of bíta to bite; cf. bate ³ ) and beita fish bait

Related forms:

baiter, noun

Synonyms:
11. badger, heckle, pester.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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bait¹ (bāt)

1. Food or other lure placed on a hook or in a trap and used in the taking of fish, birds, or other animals.
2. Something, such as a worm, used for this purpose.
An enticement; a temptation.
Archaic A stop for food or rest during a trip.

v. bait·ed, bait·ing, baits

v. tr.

To place a lure in (a trap) or on (a fishing hook).
To entice, especially by trickery or strategy.
To set dogs upon (a chained animal, for example) for sport.
To attack or torment, especially with persistent insults, criticism, or ridicule.
To tease.
To feed (an animal), especially on a journey.

v. intr. Archaic
To stop for food or rest during a trip.

[Middle English, from Old Norse beita, food, fodder, fish bait. V., from Old Norse beita, to put animals to pasture, hunt with dogs; see bheid- in Indo-European roots.]
bait'er n.

Usage Note: The word baited is sometimes incorrectly substituted for the etymologically correct but unfamiliar word bated ("abated; suspended") in the expression bated breath.

bait² (bāt)

v. Variant of bate².

bate² also bait (bāt)

intr.v. bat·ed also bait·ed, bat·ing also bait·ing, bates also baits
To flap the wings wildly or frantically. Used of a falcon.

[Middle English baten, from Old French batre, to beat; see batter¹.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Bait

Bait\, n. [Icel. beita food, beit pasture, akin to AS. b[=a]t food, Sw. bete. See Bait, v. i.]

1. Any substance, esp. food, used in catching fish, or other animals, by alluring them to a hook, snare, inclosure, or net.

2. Anything which allures; a lure; enticement; temptation. --Fairfax.

3. A portion of food or drink, as a refreshment taken on a journey; also, a stop for rest and refreshment.

4. A light or hasty luncheon.

Bait bug (Zo["o]l), a crustacean of the genus Hippa found burrowing in sandy beaches. See Anomura.

Bait

Bait\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Baited; p. pr. & vb. n. Baiting.] [OE. baiten, beit?n, to feed, harass, fr. Icel. beita, orig. to cause to bite, fr. b[=i]ta. [root]87. See Bite.]

1. To provoke and harass; esp., to harass or torment for sport; as, to bait a bear with dogs; to bait a bull.

2. To give a portion of food and drink to, upon the road; as, to bait horses. --Holland.

3. To furnish or cover with bait, as a trap or hook.

A crooked pin . . . bailed with a vile earthworm. --W. Irving.

Bait

Bait\, v. i. To stop to take a portion of food and drink for refreshment of one's self or one's beasts, on a journey.

Evil news rides post, while good news baits. --Milton.

My lord's coach conveyed me to Bury, and thence baiting at Newmarket. --Evelyn.

Bait

Bait\, v. i. [F. battre de l'aile (or des ailes), to flap or flutter. See Batter, v. i.] To flap the wings; to flutter as if to fly; or to hover, as a hawk when she stoops to her prey. "Kites that bait and beat." --Shak.

Language Translation for : bait

Spanish: cebo, carnada, carnaza,

German: der Köder,

Japanese: えさ

More Translations »

bait (n.)

c.1300, from O.N. beita, from P.Gmc. *baitan (cf. O.H.G. beizzen "to bait"), causative of *bitan (see bite), which gave rise to the two modern meanings, of "harassment" and "food offered." The verb (1300) originally referred to the medieval custom of setting dogs on some ferocious animal to bite and worry it; the fig. sense of "to persecute or harass one unable to escape the torment" is recorded earlier (c.1200).

bait

In addition to the idiom beginning with bait, also see fish or cut bait; jump at (the bait); rise to the bait.

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