bait

American  

[beyt] / beɪt /

noun

1. food, or some substitute, used as a lure in fishing, trapping, etc.

2. a poisoned lure used in exterminating pests.

3. an allurement; enticement.

   Employees were lured with the bait of annual bonuses.

4. an object for pulling molten or liquefied material, as glass, from a vat or the like by adhesion.

5. South Midland and Southern U.S.

   1. a large or sufficient quantity or amount.

      He fetched a good bait of wood.

   2. an excessive quantity or amount.

6. British Slang. food.

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verb (used with object)

1. to prepare (a hook or trap) with bait.

2. to entice by deception or trickery so as to entrap or destroy.

   using fake signal lights to bait the ships onto the rocks.

3. to attract, tempt, or captivate.

4. to set dogs upon (an animal) for sport.

5. to worry, torment, or persecute, especially with malicious remarks.

   a nasty habit of baiting defenseless subordinates.

   Synonyms:

   pester, heckle, badger

6. to tease.

   They love to bait him about his gaudy ties.

7. to feed and water (a horse or other animal), especially during a journey.

verb (used without object)

Archaic.

1. to stop for food or refreshment during a journey.

2. (of a horse or other animal) to take food; feed.

bait ¹ British  

/ beɪt /

noun

1. 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

2. an enticement; temptation

3. a variant spelling of bate 4

4. dialect food, esp a packed lunch

5. archaic a short stop for refreshment during a journey

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verb

1. (tr) to put a piece of food on or in (a hook or trap)

2. (tr) to persecute or tease

3. (tr) to entice; tempt

4. (tr) to set dogs upon (a bear, etc)

5. archaic (tr) to feed (a horse), esp during a break in a journey

6. archaic (intr) to stop for rest and refreshment during a journey

bait ² British  

/ beɪt /

verb

1. a variant spelling of bate 2

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bait Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing bait

• fish or cut bait
• jump at (the bait)
• rise to the bait

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Usage

The phrase with bated breath is sometimes wrongly spelled with baited breath

Other Word Forms

• baiter noun
• overbait verb (used with object)
• rebait verb (used with object)
• unbait verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of bait

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English bait, beit (noun), baiten (verb), from Old Norse, probably reflecting both beita “to pasture, hunt, chase with dogs or hawks” (ultimately causative of bíta “to bite”) and beita “fish bait”; bite, bate ³

Example Sentences

Popular chatbots represent a bait and switch, promising connection while farming our attention and claiming to help productivity while eroding meaningful work.

From The Wall Street Journal

Officials tried air horns, cherry and caramel flavored bait and even a trap that caught the wrong bear.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s not clear how far oil companies will go to take the bait.

From Barron's

It’s up to us to stop ingesting AI slop, outrage bait and misinformation-for-profit.

From The Wall Street Journal

Which means it’s up to us, as individuals, to stop ingesting the pink slime of AI slop, the forever chemicals of outrage bait and the microplastics of misinformation-for-profit.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• harass
• irk
• tease
• torment