Bait Definition

bāt
baited, baiting, baits
noun
baits
Food or other lure placed on a hook or in a trap and used in the taking of fish, birds, or other animals.
American Heritage
Food, etc. put on a hook or trap to lure fish or animals.
Webster's New World
Something, such as a worm, used for this purpose.
American Heritage
Anything used as a lure; enticement.
Webster's New World
An enticement, temptation, or provocation.
He did not take the bait by responding to the taunt and getting drawn into an argument.
American Heritage
verb
baited, baiting, baits
To place a lure in (a trap) or on (a fishing hook).
American Heritage
To set attacking dogs against.
People formerly baited chained bears for sport.
Webster's New World
To stop for food during a journey.
Webster's New World
To entice or provoke, especially by trickery or strategy.
He baited me into selling him my bike by saying how much I deserved a better one.
American Heritage
To attack as such dogs do.
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Bait

Noun

Singular:
bait
Plural:
baits

Origin of Bait

  • From Middle English baiten, beiten, from Old Norse beita (“to bait, cause to bite, feed, hunt”), from Proto-Germanic *baitijaną (“to cause to bite, bridle”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to cleave, split, separate”). Cognate with Icelandic beita (“to bait”), Swedish beta (“to bait, pasture, graze”), German beizen (“to cause to bite, bait”), Old English bǣtan (“to bait, hunt, bridle, bit”).

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English 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; hunting”), Old English bāt (“that which can be bitten, food, bait”). Related to bite.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English from Old Norse beita food, fodder, fish bait V., from Old Norse beita to put animals to pasture, hunt with dogs bheid- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • French battre de l'aile or des ailes, to flap or flutter.

    From Wiktionary

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to bait using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

bait