Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Bite
Bite
(bīt)
, Verb.
T.
[
imp.
Bit
(bĭt)
; p. p.
Bitten
(bĭt′t’n)
, Bit
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Biting
.] [OE.
biten
, AS. bītan
; akin to D. bijten
, OS. bītan
, OHG. bīzan
, G. beissen
, Goth. beitan
, Icel. bīta
, Sw. bita
, Dan. bide
, L. findere
to cleave, Skr. bhid
to cleave. √87. Cf. Fissure
.] 1.
To seize with the teeth, so that they enter or nip the thing seized; to lacerate, crush, or wound with the teeth;
as, to
. bite
an apple; to bite
a crust; the dog bit
a manSuch smiling rogues as these,
Like rats, oft
Like rats, oft
bite
the holy cords atwain. Shakespeare
2.
To puncture, abrade, or sting with an organ (of some insects) used in taking food.
3.
To cause sharp pain, or smarting, to; to hurt or injure, in a literal or a figurative sense;
“Frosts do bite the meads.” as, pepper
. bites
the mouthShak.
4.
To cheat; to trick; to take in.
[Colloq.]
Pope.
5.
To take hold of; to hold fast; to adhere to;
as, the anchor
. bites
the groundThe last screw of the rack having been turned so often that its purchase crumbled, . . . it turned and turned with nothing to
bite
. Dickens.
To bite the dust
, To bite the ground
to fall in the agonies of death; as, he made his enemy bite the dust.
– To bite in
(Etching)
, to corrode or eat into metallic plates by means of an acid.
– To bite the thumb at
(any one), formerly a mark of contempt, designed to provoke a quarrel; to defy.
“Do you bite your thumb at us?” Shak.
– To bite the tongue
, to keep silence.
Shak.
Bite
,Verb.
I.
1.
To seize something forcibly with the teeth; to wound with the teeth; to have the habit of so doing; as, does the dog bite?
2.
To cause a smarting sensation; to have a property which causes such a sensation; to be pungent;
as, it
. bites
like pepper or mustard3.
To cause sharp pain; to produce anguish; to hurt or injure; to have the property of so doing.
At the last it [wine]
biteth
like serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Prov. xxiii. 32.
4.
To take a bait into the mouth, as a fish does; hence, to take a tempting offer.
5.
To take or keep a firm hold;
as, the anchor
. bites
Bite
,Noun.
1.
The act of seizing with the teeth or mouth; the act of wounding or separating with the teeth or mouth; a seizure with the teeth or mouth, as of a bait;
as, to give anything a hard
. bite
I have known a very good fisher angle diligently four or six hours for a river carp, and not have a
bite
. Walton.
2.
The act of puncturing or abrading with an organ for taking food, as is done by some insects.
3.
The wound made by biting;
as, the pain of a dog’s or snake's
. bite
; the bite
of a mosquito4.
A morsel; as much as is taken at once by biting.
5.
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.
6.
A cheat; a trick; a fraud.
[Colloq.]
The baser methods of getting money by fraud and
bite
, by deceiving and overreaching. Humorist.
7.
A sharper; one who cheats.
[Slang]
Johnson.
8.
(Print.)
A blank on the edge or corner of a page, owing to a portion of the frisket, or something else, intervening between the type and paper.
Webster 1828 Edition
Bite
BITE
,Verb.
T.
1.
To break or crush with the teeth, as in eating; to pierce with the teeth, as a serpent; to seize with the teeth, as a dog.2.
To pinch or pain, as with cold; as a biting north wind; the frost bites.3.
To reproach with sarcasm; to treat with severity by words or writing; as, one poet praises, another bites.4.
To pierce,cut, or wound; as a biting falchion.5.
To make to smart, as acids bite the mouth.6.
To cheat; to trick.The rogue was bit.
[Not elegant, but common.]
7.
To enter the ground and hold fast, as the bill and palm of an anchor.8.
To injure by angry contention.If ye bite and devour one another. Gal.5.
BITE
,Noun.
1.
The wound made by the teeth.2.
A morsel; as much as is taken at once by biting; a mouthful.3.
A cheat; a trick; a fraud. [A low word.]4.
A sharper; one who cheats.