bite
pronunciation
How to pronounce bite in British English:
UK [baɪt]
How to pronounce bite in American English:
US [baɪt]
-
- Noun:
- a wound resulting from biting by an animal or a person
- a small amount of solid food; a mouthful
- a painful wound caused by the thrust of an insect's stinger into skin
- a light informal meal
- (angling) an instance of a fish taking the bait
- wit having a sharp and caustic quality
- a strong odor or taste property
- the act of gripping or chewing off with the teeth and jaws
- a portion removed from the whole
-
- Verb:
- to grip, cut off, or tear with or as if with the teeth or jaws
- cause a sharp or stinging pain or discomfort
- penetrate or cut, as with a knife
- deliver a sting to
Word Origin
- bite
- bite: [OE] The Old English verb bītan came from prehistoric Germanic *bītan, which also produced German beissen and Dutch bijten. The short-vowel version of the base, *bit-, was the source of bit, beetle, and probably bitter, and is also represented in various non-Germanic forms, such as Latin fidere ‘split’ (from which English gets fission). Bait came via Old Norse from a causal usage, ‘cause to bite’, and passed via Old French into abet (the possible source of bet).=> beetle, bit, bitter, fission
- bite (v.)
- Old English bitan (class I strong verb; past tense bat, past participle biten), from Proto-Germanic *bitan (cognates: Old Saxon bitan, Old Norse and Old Frisian bita, Middle Dutch biten, Dutch bijten, German beissen, Gothic beitan "to bite"), from PIE root *bheid- "to split, crack" (see fissure). To bite the bullet is said to be 1700s military slang, from old medical custom of having the patient bite a lead bullet during an operation to divert attention from pain and reduce screaming. Figurative use from 1891; the custom itself attested from 1840s. To bite (one's) tongue "refrain from speaking" is 1590s. To bite the dust "die" is 1750 (Latin had the same image; compare Virgil's procubuit moriens et humum semel ore momordit). To bite off more than one can chew (c. 1880) is U.S. slang, from plug tobacco.
- bite (n.)
- c. 1200, from bite (v).
Example
- 1. I take a bite of my plum cake .
- 2. Hsu fu chi is not its first bite .
- 3. And bite mr murdoch did , with relish .
- 4. Mosquitoes contract the virus when they bite infected birds .
- 5. Most rural communities still place a great deal of faith in traditional treatment for snake bite .