adjective
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piercing; keen
a biting wind
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sarcastic; incisive
a biting comment
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of biting
First recorded in 1250–1300, biting is from the Middle English word bitynge. See bite, -ing 2
Explanation
Anything biting is sharp and painful, like the biting wind off that rolls off a frozen lake on a blustery day. A biting dog has the tendency, literally, to bite with its sharp teeth. A more common, figurative way to use this adjective is to mean either "painfully cold" or "cruel." So there's the biting cold of January in Minnesota, but there's also the biting remark of someone whose words are just as agonizing.
Vocabulary lists containing biting
Chill Out! Synonyms for "Cold"
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List 3
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Cold
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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.
“The Late Show” may be leaving CBS, but Colbert’s voice — and his biting satire — aren’t going anywhere.
From Salon • May 19, 2026
Blake, biting his stiff upper lip, sets out to do the impossible.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
Her biting and formally audacious narratives examine class, politics and — a speciality — the interiority of women through enigmatic portraits of psychologically complex individuals.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
It delighted Picasso, who thereafter took delight in biting those who came to see him.
From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026
The morning was purplish, dark, and still, with the sharp, biting cold that had settled during the night.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
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.
