bite
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: bīt
ipa: /baɪt/
rhymes: -aɪt
homophone: bight
homophone: by't
homophone: byte
Forms: form: bites
form: biting
form: bit
form: bitten
form: bit
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”).
Senses: examples: text: As soon as you bite that sandwich, you'll know how good it is.
glosses: To cut into something by clamping the teeth.
glosses: To hold something by clamping one's teeth.
examples: text: That dog is about to bite!
glosses: To attack with the teeth.
examples: text: If you see me, come and say hello. I don't bite.
glosses: To behave aggressively; to reject advances.
raw_tags: in the negative
examples: text: I needed snow chains to make the tires bite.
glosses: To take hold; to establish firm contact with.
examples: text: For homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages, rising interest will really bite.
glosses: To have significant effect, often negative.
examples: text: Are the fish biting today?
glosses: To bite a baited hook or other lure and thus be caught.
raw_tags: of a fish
examples: text: I've planted the story. Do you think they'll bite?
glosses: To accept something offered, often secretly or deceptively, to cause some action by the acceptor.
examples: text: These mosquitoes are really biting today!
glosses: To sting.
raw_tags: of an insect
examples: text: It bites like pepper or mustard.
glosses: To cause a smarting sensation; to have a property which causes such a sensation; to be pungent.
examples: text: Pepper bites the mouth.
text: […]froſts doe bite the Meads[…]
ref: c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 229, column 1:
glosses: To cause sharp pain or damage to; to hurt or injure.
examples: text: At the laſt it [wine] biteth like a ſerpent, and ſtingeth like ‖ an adder.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 23:32, column 1:
glosses: To cause sharp pain; to produce anguish; to hurt or injure; to have the property of so doing.
examples: text: The anchor bites.
glosses: To take or keep a firm hold.
examples: text: The anchor bites the ground.
text: […]the last screw of the rack having been turned so often that its purchase crumbled, and it now turned and turned with nothing to bite[…]
ref: 1859, Charles Dickens, “Fire Rises”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book II (The Golden Thread), page 152:
glosses: To take hold of; to hold fast; to adhere to.
examples: text: This music really bites.
glosses: To lack quality; to be worthy of derision; to suck.
examples: text: You don't like that I sat on your car? Bite me.
glosses: To perform oral sex on. Used in invective.
examples: text: He always be biting my moves.
qualifier: African-American Vernacular
glosses: To plagiarize, to imitate.
glosses: To deceive or defraud; to take in.
Hyponyms: bite down
Derived terms: 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
Related terms: bitter