bite

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To cut into something by clamping the teeth.
2. (transitive) To hold something by clamping one's teeth.
3. (intransitive) To attack with the teeth.
4. (intransitive) To behave aggressively; to reject advances.
5. (intransitive) To take hold; to establish firm contact with.
6. (intransitive) To have significant effect, often negative.
7. (intransitive) To bite a baited hook or other lure and thus be caught.
8. (figuratively, intransitive) To accept something offered, often secretly or deceptively, to cause some action by the acceptor.
9. (intransitive, transitive) To sting.
10. (intransitive) To cause a smarting sensation; to have a property which causes such a sensation; to be pungent.
11. (figuratively, sometimes, transitive) To cause sharp pain or damage to; to hurt or injure.
12. (intransitive) To cause sharp pain; to produce anguish; to hurt or injure; to have the property of so doing.
13. (intransitive) To take or keep a firm hold.
14. (transitive) To take hold of; to hold fast; to adhere to.
15. (slang, stative) To lack quality; to be worthy of derision; to suck.
16. (informal, transitive, vulgar) To perform oral sex on. Used in invective.
17. (intransitive, slang) To plagiarize, to imitate.
18. (obsolete, slang, transitive) To deceive or defraud; to take in.

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) The act of biting.
2. (countable, uncountable) The wound left behind after having been bitten.
3. (countable, uncountable) The swelling of one's skin caused by an insect's mouthparts or sting.
4. (countable, uncountable) A piece of food of a size that would be produced by biting; a mouthful.
5. (countable, slang, uncountable) Something unpleasant.
6. (countable, slang, uncountable) An act of plagiarism.
7. (countable, uncountable) A small meal or snack.
8. (figuratively, uncountable) incisiveness, provocativeness, exactness.
9. (figuratively, uncountable) Aggression.
10. (countable, uncountable) 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.
11. (colloquial, countable, dated, uncountable) A cheat; a trick; a fraud.
12. (colloquial, countable, dated, slang, uncountable) A sharper; one who cheats.
13. (countable, uncountable) 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.
14. (countable, slang, uncountable) A cut, a proportion of profits; an amount of money.
15. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable) Ellipsis of sound bite.
16. (countable, uncountable) The turn that a spin bowler imparts to a pitch.

Synonyms

sting

gnaw

nibble

chew

nip

morsel

mouthful

bit

prick

snap

peck

eat

🍽️

stab

pinch

grip

burn

munch

snap at

snack

piece

pungency

cut

seize with teeth

sharpness

cause pain

wound

stitch

stick

crack

grind

insect bite

biting

gnash

chomp

champ

twinge

eat some

thrust

taste

tidbit

strike

tweak

hold in the mouth

raciness

pin down

scratch

crunch

crumb

collation

pierce

Translations

mordre

beißen

morder

mordere

bijten

morso

morsure

morder

piquer

Biss

picar

δαγκώνω

mossegar

morsicare

Bissen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/baɪt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: biten

Inherited from Old English: bītan

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: biete

Cognate with Western Frisian: bite

Cognate with Dutch: bijten

Cognate with German: beißen

Cognate with Danish: bide

Cognate with Swedish: bita

Cognate with Norwegian Bokmål: bite

Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk: bita

Cognate with Icelandic: bíta

Cognate with Gothic: 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽

Cognate with Latin: findō

Cognate with Ancient Greek: φείδομαι

Cognate with Sanskrit: भिद्

In summary

From Middle English biten, from Old English bītan (“bite”), from Proto-West Germanic *bītan, from Proto-Germanic *bītaną (“bite”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“split”).
Cognates include Saterland Frisian biete (“bite”), West Frisian bite (“bite”), Dutch bijten (“bite”), German Low German bieten (“bite”), German beißen, beissen (“bite”), Danish bide (“bite”), Swedish bita (“bite”), Norwegian Bokmål bite (“bite”), Norwegian Nynorsk bita (“bite”), Icelandic bíta (“bite”), Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (beitan, “bite”), Latin findō (“split”), Ancient Greek φείδομαι (pheídomai), Sanskrit भिद् (bhid, “break”).