adjective
-
piercing; keen
a biting wind
-
sarcastic; incisive
a biting comment
Other Word Forms
- bitingly adverb
- bitingness noun
- nonbiting adjective
- unbiting adjective
Etymology
Origin of biting
First recorded in 1250–1300, biting is from the Middle English word bitynge. See bite, -ing 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Shelter employees had documented Maximus “viciously biting and snapping at people walking past his enclosure,” according to the brief by Horta’s attorneys.
From Los Angeles Times
The temperature dropped so low that even with his thick fur, Duane shivered in the gasping, biting cold.
From Literature
Grandpa started fidgeting in his chair like something was biting him.
From Literature
Bodø’s domestic season ends in November because of the biting cold, and the team trains in near-constant darkness some 500 miles north of Oslo.
The attacks, which especially targeted the capital Kyiv, come at a moment of particularly biting temperatures in Ukraine, which have dropped to as low as -20C throughout winter.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
