English Explanatory Dictionary

bite

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To cut into something by clamping the teeth.
  2. To hold something by clamping one's teeth.
  3. To attack with the teeth.
  4. To behave aggressively; to reject advances.
  5. To take hold; to establish firm contact with.
  6. To have significant effect, often negative.
  7. To bite a baited hook or other lure and thus be caught.
  8. To accept something offered, often secretly or deceptively, to cause some action by the acceptor.
  9. To sting.
  10. To cause a smarting sensation; to have a property which causes such a sensation; to be pungent.
  11. To cause sharp pain or damage to; to hurt or injure.
  12. To cause sharp pain; to produce anguish; to hurt or injure; to have the property of so doing.
noun
  1. The act of biting.
  2. The wound left behind after having been bitten.
  3. The swelling of one's skin caused by an insect's mouthparts or sting.
  4. A piece of food of a size that would be produced by biting; a mouthful.
  5. Something unpleasant.
  6. An act of plagiarism.
  7. A small meal or snack.
  8. incisiveness, provocativeness, exactness.
  9. Aggression.
  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.
  12. A sharper; one who cheats.
noun
  1. Acronym of behavior, information, thoughts, emotions (“four aspects of people's lives that a cult attempts to control”).

Pronunciation

bīt /baɪt/ en-us-bite.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-bite.wav

Word forms

bite bites biting bit bitten

Etymology

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”), Icelandic bíta (“bite”), Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (beitan, “bite”), Latin findō (“split”), Ancient Greek φείδομαι (pheídomai), Sanskrit भिद् (bhid, “break”).

Synonyms

sting

Related words

bitter beetle bit

Derived words

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 biter bitesheep bite someone's hand off bite someone's head off bite someone's style bite the big one bite the biscuit bite the bullet bite the curb bite the dust bite the hand that feeds one biting biting midge biting point cock-biting come back to bite come up and bite crib-biting crossbite don't bite the newbie don't let the bedbugs bite double-biting forbite frog-biting midge if it had teeth, it'd bite one I'll bite make a rabbit bite a bulldog non-biting midge rebite sheep-biting the biter bit unbite won't bite wouldn't shout if a shark bit him afterbite all bark and no bite
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