bite someone's head off

Slang Dictionary

bite definition


  1. in.
    to accept a deception; to fall for something; to respond to a come-on. : We put up a sign advertising free pop, but nobody bit.
  2. in.
    [for someone or something] to be bad or threatening. : My dad bites, but don't worry, he's in a good mood.
  3. in.
    to be irritating. (More severe than to suck,as in It sucks.) : This party bites. Sko.
  4. tv.
    to copy something without permission; to steal something. : Sue bit a copy of my term paper, and I almost got in trouble.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

bite someone's head off

Also, snap someone's head off. Scold or speak very angrily to someone, as in Ask her to step down from the board? She'd bite my head off! The first expression, dating from the mid-1900s, replaced the much earlier bite someone's nose off (16th century); the variant was first recorded in 1886.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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