bait
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bait (bāt)
transitive verb
- to set attacking dogs against people formerly baited chained bears for sport
- to attack as such dogs do
- to torment or harass with unprovoked, vicious, repeated attacks
- to tease or goad, esp. so as to provoke a reaction
- to put food, etc. on (a hook or trap) to lure animals or fish
- to lure; tempt; entice
- Archaic to feed (animals) during a break in a journey
Etymology: ME baiten < ON beita < Gmc *baitian, caus. of *bitan: for base see bite
intransitive verb
noun
- food, etc. put on a hook or trap to lure fish or animals
- anything used as a lure; enticement
- ☆ Dialectal a large amount we wolfed down a bait of huckleberries
- Archaic a stop for rest or food during a journey
Etymology: ON beita, lure, fish bait
Related Forms:
- baiter bait′er noun
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Alternate definitions:
bait
v.
To provide with a lure
To torment
badger, harass, goad, hound, nag, tease, torment, hector, heckle, worry, persecute, beleaguer, anger, ride*, needle*, pick on*; see also bother 2.To lure
entice, attract, draw; see deceive, fascinate, seduce, tempt.
to bait is to harass or goad, as with repeated, unprovoked attacks, insults, or derision, and implies that the persecutor gets malicious pleasure from the act; to badger is to pester so persistently as to bring to a state of confusion or wear down; to hound is to pursue or attack relentlessly until the victim succumbs he was hounded out of office; heckle denotes the persistent questioning and taunting of a public speaker so as to annoy or confuse; hector implies a continual bullying or nagging in order to intimidate or break down resistance; torment, in this comparison, suggests continued harassment so as to cause acute suffering tormented by her memories; ride is colloquial and implies harassment or teasing by ridiculing, criticizing, etc. they were riding the rookie unmercifully from the dugout
Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Object
- breath: Looking forward to the second with baited breath... .
Preposition: with
- maggot: Our rods cast and baited with red maggots, we began the long wait for a bite.
Adjective modifier
- frozen: Make sure you take along some frozen fish bait, just in case the dogfish are feeding.
Modifies a noun
- dropper: His choice of feed for the perch swim was two bait droppers of bronze maggots with a few reds among them.
Noun used with modifier
- hook: You can also work your way through hook baits trying double maggot or a single grain of hemp.
The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.
And what a congress of stinks!ö Roots ripe as old bait, Pulpy stems, rank, silo-rich, Leaf-mold, manure, lime, piled against slippery planks. Nothing would give up life: Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath.
Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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MLA Style
"bait." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009
- Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
- <www.yourdictionary.com/bait>
APA Style
bait. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary
- Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/bait
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