bait
- food, or some substitute, used as a lure in fishing, trapping, etc.
- a poisoned lure used in exterminating pests.
- an allurement; enticement: Employees were lured with the bait of annual bonuses.
- an object for pulling molten or liquefied material, as glass, from a vat or the like by adhesion.
- South Midland and Southern U.S.
- a large or sufficient quantity or amount: He fetched a good bait of wood.
- an excessive quantity or amount.
- British Slang. food.
- to prepare (a hook or trap) with bait.
- to entice by deception or trickery so as to entrap or destroy: using fake signal lights to bait the ships onto the rocks.
- to attract, tempt, or captivate.
- to set dogs upon (an animal) for sport.
- to worry, torment, or persecute, especially with malicious remarks: a nasty habit of baiting defenseless subordinates.
- to tease: They love to bait him about his gaudy ties.
- to feed and water (a horse or other animal), especially during a journey.
Origin of bait
Synonyms
Related Words
enticemententiceseduceharassirktormentteaseluretemptationcome-onattractiondragtrapbribesnareallurementinducementshillbedevildrawExamples from the Web for baiting
Contemporary Examples
Open-carry activists are known for baiting cops into on-camera arguments about the Second Amendment and state laws.
When you saw it out in Ferguson, there was a baiting going on.
Ava DuVernay on ‘Selma,’ the Racist Sony Emails, and Making Golden Globes HistoryMarlow Stern
December 15, 2014
Desperate to stand out, some megachurches are baiting Easter crowds with flat-screen TVs, iPads, and Starbucks gift cards.
Historical Examples
Let us see what sort of sport the bull-pups make in the baiting of him!
Micah ClarkeArthur Conan Doyle
She was baiting him, tempting him to quarrel with her over the old grudge.
Rim o' the WorldB. M. Bower
Some of the numerous disaffected were baiting the stages most of the time.
Nan of Music MountainFrank H. Spearman
He seemed to be baiting his hook for another cast in the river.
Paul PatoffF. Marion Crawford
Her blandness was beyond all baiting; she professed she could be as still as a mouse.
The Tragic MuseHenry James
bait1
- something edible, such as soft bread paste, worms, or pieces of meat, fixed to a hook or in a trap to attract fish or animals
- an enticement; temptation
- a variant spelling of bate 4
- Northern English dialect food, esp a packed lunch
- archaic a short stop for refreshment during a journey
- (tr) to put a piece of food on or in (a hook or trap)
- (tr) to persecute or tease
- (tr) to entice; tempt
- (tr) to set dogs upon (a bear, etc)
- (tr) archaic to feed (a horse), esp during a break in a journey
- (intr) archaic to stop for rest and refreshment during a journey
Word Origin
usage
bait2
- a variant spelling of bate 2
Word Origin and History for baiting
bait
n.
"food put on a hook or trap to lure prey," c.1300, from Old Norse beita "food," related to Old Norse beit "pasture," Old English bat "food," literally "to cause to bite" (see bait (v.)). Figurative sense "anything used as a lure" is from c.1400.
bait
v.1
"to torment or goad (someone unable to escape, and to take pleasure in it)," c.1300, beyten, a figurative use from the literal sense of "to set dogs on," from the medieval entertainment of setting dogs on some ferocious animal to bite and worry it (the literal use is attested from c.1300); from Old Norse beita "to cause to bite," from Proto-Germanic *baitan (cf. Old English bætan "to cause to bite," Old High German beizzen "to bait," Middle High German beiz "hunting," German beizen "to hawk, to cauterize, etch"), causative of *bitan (see bite (v.)); the causative word forked into the two meanings of "harass" and "food offered." Related: Baited; baiting.
bait
v.2
"to put food on a hook or in a trap," c.1300, probably from bait (n.). Related: Baited; baiting.
Idioms and Phrases with baiting
bait
In addition to the idiom beginning with bait
- bait and switch
also see:
- fish or cut bait
- jump at (the bait)
- rise to the bait