Jump To:

• bear-baiting
  bear-baiting

  noun

  the former practice of setting dogs to fight a captive bear.
• bear baiting
  bear baiting

  noun

  the practice of placing food or other attractants to lure bears to a particular location so they can be hunted.

bear-baiting

¹ American  

[bair-bay-ting] / ˈbɛərˌbeɪ tɪŋ /

Or bearbaiting

noun

1. the former practice of setting dogs to fight a captive bear.

---

bear baiting ² American  

[bair bay-ting] / ˈbɛər ˌbeɪ tɪŋ /

noun

Hunting.

1. the practice of placing food or other attractants to lure bears to a particular location so they can be hunted.

---

bear-baiting British  

noun

1. (formerly) an entertainment in which dogs attacked and enraged a chained bear

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• bear-baiter
  noun

Etymology

Origin of bear-baiting

First recorded in 1580–90; bear ², bait (in the sense “to set dogs upon for sport”), -ing ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

A similar ban on bear baiting, enacted in 2015 during the Obama administration, was rescinded by the 2020 rule, the park service said.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 6, 2023

She was cited for bear baiting, a charge that is still pending.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 26, 2018

Greyhound racing in Australia's most populous state is set to go the way of bear baiting and cock fighting - a sport deemed by authorities simply too distasteful to continue.

From BBC • Jul. 15, 2016

Ten U.S. states currently allow bear baiting, according to Humane Society data.

From Reuters • May 27, 2014

Hunting, bear baiting, fireworks, tilting, Morris dances, a rustic marriage, a fight between Danes and English, curious aquatic sports,—all succeeded each other, interspersed with brilliant feasts.

From A History of English Prose Fiction by Tuckerman, Bayard