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Definition 2024

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

(transitive, idiomatic, sometimes followed by on) To accept or commit oneself to a task, project, notion, or responsibility, especially one which presents challenges.
- 1967 July 28, "Actresses: Hayley at 21," Time:
  In between what she called the "goody-good" or "frilly-knickers" Hollywood films, she bit off some more demanding parts back home.
- 1988 Dec. 29, Steve Lohr, "Risk Inherited at Finnish Concern," New York Times (retrieved 4 July 2011):
  "And for the next couple of years, with Nokia having bitten off so much, Vuorilehto is the right guy for the task they face."
- 2006 Jan. 4, Natalie Pace, "Q&A: MySpace Founders Chris DeWolfe And Tom Anderson," Forbes (retrieved 4 July 2011):
  We have set a plan that we believe everyone at News Corp. will bite off on.
- 2009 Oct. 28, "Healthcare reform: Trigger Unhappy," Newsweek (retrieved 4 July 2011):
  They think it's politically too much for the government to bite off right now.
(transitive, idiomatic) To acquire, especially in an abrupt or forceful manner.
- 1997, Anthony Spaeth, "And Here the Twain Shall Meet," Time, Special Issue—Hong Kong 1997:
  To thicken that buffer zone Britain joined other powers in biting off larger chunks of China.
- 2007 March 26, Laurie J. Flynn, "Maker of Mobile Games Brings Line to BlackBerry," New York Times (retrieved 4 July 2011):
  For R.I.M. to bite off just a tiny piece of that market would help it grow considerably.