English Explanatory Dictionary

bait

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Any substance, especially food, used in catching fish, or other animals, by alluring them to a hook, snare, trap, or net.
  2. Food containing poison or a harmful additive to kill animals that are pests.
  3. Anything which allures; something or someone used to lure or entice someone or something into doing something.
  4. Something that lures or entices a specified group.
  5. Someone that attracts or entices a specified sex act being done to them.
  6. A portion of food or drink, as a refreshment taken on a journey; also, a stop for rest and refreshment.
  7. A packed lunch - the bite to eat a worker took with them to eat.
  8. A small meal taken mid-morning while farming.
  9. A miner's packed meal.
  10. A light or hasty luncheon.
  11. A post intended to elicit a, usually strong or negative, reaction from others.
verb
  1. To attract with bait; to entice.
  2. To affix bait to a trap or a fishing hook or fishing line.
  3. To lay baits in an environment to control pest species.
  4. To target a pest species by laying baits.
verb
  1. To set dogs on (an animal etc.) to bite or worry; to attack with dogs, especially for sport.
  2. To intentionally annoy, torment, or threaten by constant rebukes or threats; to harass.
  3. To feed and water (a horse or other animal), especially during a journey.
  4. Of a horse or other animal: to take food, especially during a journey.
  5. (of a person) To stop to take a portion of food and drink for refreshment during a journey.
verb
  1. To flap the wings; to flutter as if to fly; or to hover, as a hawk when she stoops to her prey.
adj
  1. Obvious; blatant.
  2. Well-known; famous; renowned.

Pronunciation

bāt /beɪt/ en-us-bait.ogg

Word forms

bait baits b8 baiting baited baiter baitest

Etymology

From Middle English bayte, bait, beite, from Old Norse beita (“food, bait”), from Proto-Germanic *baitō (“that which is bitten, bait”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to cleave, split, separate”). Cognate with German Beize (“mordant, corrosive fluid; marinade”), Old English bāt (“that which can be bitten, food, bait”). Related to bite.

Synonyms

badger hound bait bedevil beleaguer persecute bug devil beset chevy give someone grief harass harry pester pick at plague vex apparent arrant undoubted glaring blatant clear clear as a bell clear as day clear cut conspicuous crystal clear cut and dried decided elucidate evident eyely intuitive manifest notable noticeable obvious open-and-shut ostensible palpable patent plain plain as a haystack plain as a pikestaff plain as day plain as Dunstable highway plain as porridge plain as print plain as Salisbury plain as the nose on one's face prima facie res ipsa loquitur splendent straightforward undissembled fabled famed famous famoused

Derived words

-bait baitable bait advertising bait-and-switch bait and switch bait ball bait bill bait bills bait boat bait box bait bug bait car baitcaster baitcasting bait-cord bait dog baitfish baitholder baithook baiting baitless bait money baitshop bait up baitware baitwell baitworm baity bear-bait bearbait bear bait buzzard bait buzzbait clickbait click-bait click bait crankbait craybait crowbait cut bait dickbait fishbait fish or cut bait flame bait flamebait fuckbait fujobait gaybait groundbait jailbait jail-bait jail bait jebait ledger bait link-bait linkbait link bait nonbaited Oscar bait pedobait

Translations

Bulgarian: прима́мка Bulgarian: изкуше́ние Catalan: esquer Czech: návnada Czech: lákadlo Czech: vábnička Czech: svačina Finnish: syötti Finnish: eväs Finnish: eväät Finnish: matkaeväät French: leurre Galician: ensenrada Galician: engado Galician: besbello German: Köder German: Lockmittel Greek: δόλωμα Hindi: प्रलोभन Hungarian: csalétek Hungarian: csali Italian: esca Japanese: 誘惑 Korean: 유혹 Polish: przynęta Polish: wabik Portuguese: isca Portuguese: engodo Portuguese: farnel Russian: прима́нка Russian: искуше́ние Russian: мано́к Serbo-Croatian: мамац Serbo-Croatian: mamac Slovene: vaba Spanish: anzuelo Spanish: carnada Spanish: carnaza Spanish: añagaza Spanish: enza Swedish: lockbete Volapük: bätazib Welsh: abwyd
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