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 man
.
Such smiling rogues as these,
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;
as, pepper
bites
the mouth
.
“Frosts do bite the meads.”
Shak.
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 ground
.
The 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 mustard
.
3.
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.
[OE.
bite
,
bit
,
bitt
, AS.
bite
bite, fr.
bītan
to bite, akin to Icel.
bit
, OS.
biti
, G.
biss
. See
Bite
,
Verb.
, and cf.
Bit
.]
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 mosquito
.
4.
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.
pret. bit; pp. bit, bitten.
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.
The seizure of any thing by the teeth of an animal, as the bite of a dog; or with the mouth, as of a fish.
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.

Definition 2024

Bite

Bite

See also: bite, bitē, and bitė

Latvian

Proper noun

Bite m

  1. A patronymic surname​.

bite

bite

See also: Bite, bitē, and bitė

English

Verb

bite ‎(third-person singular simple present bites, present participle biting, simple past bit, past participle bitten or (rare) bit)

  1. (transitive) To cut off a piece by clamping the teeth.
    As soon as you bite that sandwich, you'll know how good it is.
  2. (transitive) To hold something by clamping one's teeth.
  3. (intransitive) To attack with the teeth.
    That dog is about to bite!
  4. (intransitive) To behave aggressively; to reject advances.
    If you see me, come and say hello. I don't bite.
  5. (intransitive) To take hold; to establish firm contact with.
    I needed snow chains to make the tires bite.
  6. (intransitive) To have significant effect, often negative.
    For homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages, rising interest will really bite.
  7. (intransitive, of a fish) To bite a baited hook or other lure and thus be caught.
    Are the fish biting today?
  8. (intransitive, figuratively) To accept something offered, often secretly or deceptively, to cause some action by the acceptor.
    I've planted the story. Do you think they'll bite?
  9. (intransitive, transitive, of an insect) To sting.
    These mosquitoes are really biting today!
  10. (intransitive) To cause a smarting sensation; to have a property which causes such a sensation; to be pungent.
    It bites like pepper or mustard.
  11. (transitive) To cause sharp pain, or smarting, to; to hurt or injure, in a literal or a figurative sense.
    Pepper bites the mouth.
    • Shakespeare
      Frosts do bite the meads.
  12. (intransitive) To cause sharp pain; to produce anguish; to hurt or injure; to have the property of so doing.
    • Bible, Proverbs xxiii. 32
      At the last it [wine] biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
  13. (intransitive) To take or keep a firm hold.
    The anchor bites.
  14. (transitive) To take hold of; to hold fast; to adhere to.
    The anchor bites the ground.
    • Charles Dickens
      The last **** of the rack having been turned so often that its purchase crumbled, […] it turned and turned with nothing to bite.
  15. (intransitive, slang) To lack quality; to be worthy of derision; to suck.
    This music really bites.
  16. (transitive, informal, vulgar) To perform oral sex on. Used in invective.
    You don't like that I sat on your car? Bite me.
  17. (intransitive, African American Vernacular, slang) To plagiarize, to imitate.
    He always be biting my moves.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

bite ‎(plural bites)

  1. The act of biting.
    • Walton
      I have known a very good fisher angle diligently four or six hours for a river carp, and not have a bite.
  2. The wound left behind after having been bitten.
    That snake bite really hurts!
  3. The swelling of one's skin caused by an insect's mouthparts or sting.
    After just one night in the jungle I was covered with mosquito bites.
  4. A piece of food of a size that would be produced by biting; a mouthful.
    There were only a few bites left on the plate.
  5. (slang) Something unpleasant.
    That's really a bite!
  6. (slang) An act of plagiarism.
    That song is a bite of my song!
  7. A small meal or snack.
    I'll have a quick bite to quiet my stomach until dinner.
  8. (figuratively) aggression
    • 2011 March 2, Saj Chowdhury, “Man City 3 - 0 Aston Villa”, in BBC:
      City scored the goals but periods of ball possession were shared - the difference being Villa lacked bite in the opposition final third.
  9. 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.
  10. (colloquial, dated) A cheat; a trick; a fraud.
    • Humorist
      The baser methods of getting money by fraud and bite, by deceiving and overreaching.
  11. (colloquial, dated, slang) A sharper; one who cheats.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Johnson to this entry?)
  12. (printing) 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.

Synonyms

  • (act of biting):
  • (wound left behind after having been bitten):
  • (swelling caused by an insect's mouthparts or sting): sting
  • (piece of food of a size that would be produced by biting): mouthful
  • (slang: something unpleasant):
  • (slang: act of plagiarism):
  • (small meal or snack): snack
  • (figuratively: aggression):

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

French

Etymology

From Old Norse biti ‎(“beam, girder”)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bit/

Noun

bite f ‎(plural bites)

  1. (slang, vulgar) knob, cock, dick
    Il a souri quand j'ai mis la main entre ses cuisses et je me suis mise à frotter sa grosse bite.
    He smiled when I put my hand between his thighs and started to rub his big cock.

Latvian

Etymology

From Proto-Baltic (compare Lithuanian bitė), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰei-, *bʰī-. Cognate to English bee.

Noun

bite f (5th declension)

  1. bee

Declension

Neapolitan

Noun

bite

  1. plural of bita

North Frisian

Verb

bite

  1. (Hallig), (Mooring) to bite

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse bíta, from Proto-Germanic *bītaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- ‎(“to split”).

Verb

bite ‎(present tense biter, past tense bet or beit, past participle bitt)

  1. to bite

Related terms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse bíta, from Proto-Germanic *bītaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- ‎(“to split”).

Verb

bite ‎(present tense bit or biter, past tense beit, past participle bite or biti)

  1. to bite

Old English

Etymology

From the verb bitan.

Noun

bite m

  1. bite

Turkish

Noun

bite

  1. dative singular of bit

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian bīta.

Verb

bite

  1. to bite

Etymology

bite

Similar Results