bite
Part of speech: verb
Morphological type: simple
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”), Faroese and Icelandic bíta (“bite”), Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (beitan, “bite”), Latin findō (“split”), Ancient Greek φείδομαι (pheídomai), Sanskrit भिद् (bhid, “break”).
Inflected forms:
form: bites
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: biting
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: bit
pos: verb
tags: past
form: bitten
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: bit
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
Senses:
gloss: To cut into something by clamping the teeth.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: As soon as you bite that sandwich, you'll know how good it is.
gloss: To hold something by clamping one's teeth.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To attack with the teeth.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: That dog is about to bite!
gloss: To behave aggressively; to reject advances.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: If you see me, come and say hello. I don't bite.
gloss: To take hold; to establish firm contact with.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: I needed snow chains to make the tires bite.
gloss: To have significant effect, often negative.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: For homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages, rising interest will really bite.
gloss: To bite a baited hook or other lure and thus be caught.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: Are the fish biting today?
gloss: To accept something offered, often secretly or deceptively, to cause some action by the acceptor.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: I've planted the story. Do you think they'll bite?
gloss: To sting.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
transitive
examples: These mosquitoes are really biting today!
gloss: To cause a smarting sensation; to have a property which causes such a sensation; to be pungent.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: It bites like pepper or mustard.
gloss: To cause sharp pain or damage to; to hurt or injure.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
sometimes
transitive
examples: Pepper bites the mouth.
[…]froſts doe bite the Meads[…]
gloss: To cause sharp pain; to produce anguish; to hurt or injure; to have the property of so doing.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: At the laſt it [wine] biteth like a ſerpent, and ſtingeth like ‖ an adder.
gloss: To take or keep a firm hold.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: The anchor bites.
gloss: To take hold of; to hold fast; to adhere to.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The anchor bites the ground.
[…]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[…]
gloss: To lack quality; to be worthy of derision; to suck.
pos: verb
tags: slang
stative
examples: This music really bites.
gloss: To perform oral sex on. Used in invective.
pos: verb
tags: informal
transitive
vulgar
examples: You don't like that I sat on your car? Bite me.
gloss: To plagiarize, to imitate.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
slang
examples: He always be biting my moves.
gloss: To deceive or defraud; to take in.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
slang
transitive
Related words: bitter
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
Translations: