bated

[ bey-tid ]

adjective

moderated or restrained: Their solemn faces, their fidgeting, and the bated whispers in which they spoke all told of nerves strained to the breaking point.

verb

Idioms about bated

with bated breath, with breath drawn in or held because of anticipation or suspense: We watched with bated breath as the runners approached the finish line.

First recorded in 1590–1600; bate¹ + -ed² for the adjective; bate¹ + -ed¹ for the verb

Throughout Christmas eve and day, the world is monitoring with bated breath.
Sweden’s Burning Christmas Goat | Nina Strochlic | December 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Hawking took 10 minutes to build up the answer on his computer and the audience waited with bated breath.
Richard Dawkins: How I Write | Noah Charney | November 27, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
We all may have waited with bated breath for Wiig's big, first post-Bridesmaids, post-SNL star vehicle.
Is Kristen Wiig Still ‘Girl Most Likely’ to Succeed? | Kevin Fallon | July 22, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
All was ready, and as they started a thousand eyes followed them, and with bated breath their comrades watched them as they rode.
The Courier of the Ozarks | Byron A. Dunn
She listened now with bated breath, thinking that by some unconscious cry she might have aroused the others.
The Dragon Painter | Mary McNeil Fenollosa

Then, drawing near the wall in the direction from which the noise came, they applied their ears with bated breath.
The Pilgrim's Shell or Fergan the Quarryman | Eugne Sue
So in awful silence, with the family holding its bated breath, I began to pull at the bread.
Gardens of the Caribbees, v. 1/2 | Ida May Hill Starr
To the tall man with the flat face the assembly listened with eager looks, bated breath, and open mouths.
The Norsemen in the West | R.M. Ballantyne

Browse