bite
English
Etymology
From Middle English biten, from Old English bītan (“bite”), from Proto-West Germanic *bītan, from Proto-Germanic *bītaną (“bite”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“split”).
Cognates include Saterland Frisian biete (“bite”), West Frisian bite (“bite”), Dutch bijten (“bite”), German Low German bieten (“bite”), German beißen, beissen (“bite”), Danish bide (“bite”), Swedish bita (“bite”), Norwegian Bokmål bite (“bite”), Norwegian Nynorsk bita (“bite”), Icelandic bíta (“bite”), Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (beitan, “bite”), Latin findō (“split”), Ancient Greek φείδομαι (pheídomai), Sanskrit भिद् (bhid, “break”).
Pronunciation
Verb
bite (third-person singular simple present bites, present participle biting, simple past bit, past participle bitten or bit)
- (transitive) To cut into something by clamping the teeth.
- As soon as you bite that sandwich, you'll know how good it is.
- (transitive) To hold something by clamping one's teeth.
- (intransitive) To attack with the teeth.
- That dog is about to bite!
- (intransitive, chiefly in the negative) To behave aggressively; to reject advances.
- If you see me, come and say hello. I don't bite.
- (intransitive) To take hold; to establish firm contact with.
- I needed snow chains to make the tires bite.
- (intransitive) To have significant effect, often negative.
- For homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages, rising interest will really bite.
- (intransitive, of a fish) To bite a baited hook or other lure and thus be caught.
- Are the fish biting today?
- (intransitive, figurative) To accept something offered, often secretly or deceptively, to cause some action by the acceptor.
- I've planted the story. Do you think they'll bite?
- (intransitive, transitive, of an insect) To sting.
- These mosquitoes are really biting today!
- (intransitive) To cause a smarting sensation; to have a property which causes such a sensation; to be pungent.
- It bites like pepper or mustard.
- (transitive, sometimes figurative) To cause sharp pain or damage to; to hurt or injure.
- Pepper bites the mouth.
- c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 229, column 1:
- […] froſts doe bite the Meads […]
- (intransitive) To cause sharp pain; to produce anguish; to hurt or injure; to have the property of so doing.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 23:32, column 1:
- At the laſt it [wine] biteth like a ſerpent, and ſtingeth like ‖ an adder.
- (intransitive) To take or keep a firm hold.
- The anchor bites.
- (transitive) To take hold of; to hold fast; to adhere to.
- The anchor bites the ground.
- 1859, Charles Dickens, “Fire Rises”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book II (The Golden Thread), page 152:
- […] the last screw of the rack having been turned so often that its purchase crumbled, and it now turned and turned with nothing to bite […]
- (stative, slang) To lack quality; to be worthy of derision; to suck.
- This music really bites.
- (transitive, informal, vulgar) To perform oral sex on. Used in invective.
- You don't like that I sat on your car? Bite me.
- (intransitive, African-American Vernacular, slang) To plagiarize, to imitate.
- He always be biting my moves.
- (obsolete, transitive, slang) To deceive or defraud; to take in.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
- abite
- backbite
- barking dogs never bite
- barking dogs seldom bite
- bit by a barn mouse
- biteable
- bite and smile
- bite back
- bitee
- bite in
- bite in the arse
- bite in the ass
- bite it
- bite me
- bite my ass
- bite my shiny metal ass
- bite off
- bite off more than one can chew
- bite one's knuckle
- bite one's lip
- bite one's nails
- bite one's thumb
- bite one's tongue
- bite on granite
- biter
- bitesheep
- bite someone's hand off
- bite someone's head off
- bite the big one
- bite the biscuit
- bite the bullet
- bite the curb
- bite the dust
- bite the hand that feeds one
- biting
- biting midge
- biting point
- cock-biting
- come back to bite
- come up and bite
- crib-biting
- crossbite
- don't bite the newbie
- don't let the bedbugs bite
- double-biting
- forbite
- frog-biting midge
- if it had teeth, it'd bite one
- I'll bite
- make a rabbit bite a bulldog
- non-biting midge
- rebite
- sheep-biting
- the biter bit
- unbite
- won't bite
- wouldn't shout if a shark bit him
Related terms
Descendants
- Sranan Tongo: beti
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Noun
bite (countable and uncountable, plural bites)
- The act of biting.
- 1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], chapter VIII, in The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC; reprinted as The Compleat Angler (Homo Ludens; 6), Nieuwkoop, South Holland, Netherlands: Miland Publishers, 1969, →ISBN, pages 168–169:
- […] I have knowne a very good Fiſher angle diligently four or ſix hours in a day, for three or four dayes together for a River Carp, and not have a bite […]
- 2016, Mark Z. Danielewski, The Familiar, Volume 3: Honeysuckle & Pain, Pantheon Books, →ISBN, page 513:
- Now trust me when I tell you, young lady, teeth are something you want to take care of. They’re these rare white things that give us pleasure throughout our life. And give us bite. Our inheritance. Our means of survival. Our right to rule. Their enamel is the front line. And that line needs to be won every day.
- The wound left behind after having been bitten.
- That snake bite really hurts!
- The swelling of one's skin caused by an insect's mouthparts or sting.
- Synonym: sting
- After just one night in the jungle I was covered with mosquito bites.
- A piece of food of a size that would be produced by biting; a mouthful.
- There were only a few bites left on the plate.
- 1906, Hamilton Drummond, The Chain of Seven Lives, F. V. White & Co., Ltd., pages 182–183:
- Not a soul in Corlaix will dare give us bite, sup, or shelter; and we shall die starved in a ditch, all four of us—that much we are our own, but in all else we are Monseigneur’s; all else, I say, all—all.
- (slang) Something unpleasant.
- 1985 December 7, Sib Connor, “9to5: Still Putting In A Day's Work”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 21, page 2:
- In February of this year, 9to5 was forced to lay off four of its paid staff, and began to feel the bite of its high-rent downtown office space.
- (slang) An act of plagiarism.
- That song is a bite of my song!
- A small meal or snack.
- a bite to eat... I'll have a quick bite to quiet my stomach until dinner...
- 1988, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, spoken by Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen):
- Wilma, I promise you one thing. Whatever scum is behind this, not a single cop on this police force will have a minute's rest until he's behind bars. Now let's grab a bite to eat.
- 2023 July 21, Billie Schwab Dunn, “I Tried Wetherspoons Food for the First Time-I Feared I'd Get Scurvy...”, in Daily Star:
- Would I take someone here for a first date? No. Would I go here for a cheap bite? Also no...
- (figuratively, uncountable) incisiveness, provocativeness, exactness.
- (figuratively, uncountable) Aggression.
- 1996 April 22, Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times:
- Kathy Santen is full of bite as the bizarrely seduced Lady Anne, although her exaggerated diction is a bit too snappishly Shakespearean.
- 1998, Vidyut Bhagwat, “Pandita Ramabai’s Strī-Dharma Nīti and Tarabai Shinde’s Strī-Puruṣ Tulanā: The Inner Unity of the Texts”, in Anne Feldhaus, editor, Images of Women in Maharashtrian Society, State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 211:
- In Tarabai’s text this exposure is direct, unusually blunt, full of bite and ridicule, and highly polemical.
- 2011 March 2, Saj Chowdhury, “Man City 3 - 0 Aston Villa”, in BBC[1]:
- City scored the goals but periods of ball possession were shared - the difference being Villa lacked bite in the opposition final third.
- The hold which the short end of a lever has upon the thing to be lifted, or the hold which one part of a machine has upon another.
- (colloquial, dated) A cheat; a trick; a fraud.
- 1725, Thomas Gordon, The Humorist:
- The baser methods of getting money by fraud and bite, by deceiving and overreaching.
- (colloquial, dated, slang) A sharper; one who cheats.
- 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, “Pickle Seems Tolerably Well Reconciled to His Cage; […] ”, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC, page 385, column 1:
- [I]t was conjectured, that Peregrine was a bite from the beginning, who had found credit on account of his effrontery and appearance, and impoſed himſelf upon the town as a young gentleman of fortune.
- 1828, The Newcastle Magazine, volume 7, page 85:
- So he went home cursing the Yorkshire bites, and swearing there was no living among them […]
- (printing) A blank on the edge or corner of a page, owing to a portion of the frisket, or something else, intervening between the type and paper.
- (slang) A cut, a proportion of profits; an amount of money.
- 1993, William S. Burroughs, edited by Oliver Harris, The Letters of William S. Burroughs, 1945–1959, New York: Penguin, →ISBN, page 92:
- I know three Americans who are running a bar. The cops come in all the time for a bite.
- (television) Ellipsis of sound bite.
- 2015, Robert A. Papper, Broadcast News and Writing Stylebook:
- cold open: Starting a TV newscast with video or a bite from the lead story rather than starting with the anchor or the standard show open.
Derived terms
- afterbite
- all bark and no bite
- bee bite
- bite at the apple
- bite at the cherry
- bite cell
- biteforce
- biteful
- bite indicator
- biteless
- bitemark
- bite of the apple
- bite of the cherry
- bite of the reality sandwich
- bite point
- biteproof
- bite-size
- bite-sized
- bitesome
- bite stick
- bite suit
- bite to eat
- bitewing
- bite wing
- bitey
- claiming bite
- cow bite
- crossbite
- crossbite
- dry bite
- eat an elephant one bite at a time
- fight bite
- first bite free
- fleabite
- forebite
- Frankenbite
- frostbite
- gristbite
- have a bite
- in one bite
- love bite
- mating bite
- midbite
- minibite
- monkey bite
- mosquito bite
- one's bark is worse than one's bite
- open bite
- overbite
- pizza bite
- put the bite on
- rat-bite fever
- scissor bite
- scissors bite
- scope bite
- shark-bite
- shark bite
- shoebite
- sight bite
- snake-bite, snakebite
- sound bite
- stork bite
- take a bite
- take a bite out of
- tax bite
- tick bite
- tick-bite fever
- underbite
Related terms
Descendants
- Sranan Tongo: beti
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Anagrams
Czech
Pronunciation
Noun
bite
French
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old Norse biti (“beam, girder”), from Proto-Germanic *bitô, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”).
Pronunciation
Noun
bite f (plural bites)
- (slang, vulgar) knob, cock, dick
- Il a souri quand j’ai mis la main entre ses cuisses et je me suis mise à frotter sa grosse bite.
- He smiled when I put my hand between his thighs and started to rub his big cock.
- 2006, “Je veux te voir”, in Pop Up, performed by Yelle:
- Je veux te voir / Dans un film pornographique / En action avec ta bite / Forme potatoes ou bien frites
- I want to see you / In a porno film / In action with your dick / Whether it's a French fry or a chunky chip
- 2012, “Wesh Morray”, in Futur, performed by Booba:
- J’sors ma bite je la baise, tu sors ton biff tu la sors
- I get out my dick and I fuck her, you get out your cash and take her out
- 2015 [2004], Stéphane Dompierre, Un petit pas pour l'homme, →ISBN, page 57:
- J’ai la bite tellement raide que si son copain passe, il pourra me l’arracher et me péter les dents avec. Je vis dans un film érotique et je ne baise pas. Je n’y comprends rien.
- My cock is so hard that if her boyfriend comes by, he'll be able to rip it off and smash my teeth in with it. I live in a porn film and I'm not getting laid. I don't understand it.
Derived terms
Further reading
- “bite”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Garo
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
bite
Italian
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English bite.
Pronunciation
Noun
bite m (invariable)
Khumi Chin
Pronunciation
Adjective
bite
Related terms
References
- K. E. Herr (2011) The phonological interpretation of minor syllables, applied to Lemi Chin[2], Payap University, page 74
Latvian
Etymology
From Proto-Balto-Slavic *bitē (compare Lithuanian bitė), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰey-, *bʰī-. Cognate to English bee.
Noun
bite f (5th declension)
Declension
Lithuanian
Noun
bitè
- instrumental singular of bìtė (“bee”)
Noun
bìte
- instrumental singular of bìtė (“bee”)
Murui Huitoto
Etymology
Cognates include Minica Huitoto bite and Nüpode Huitoto bitde.
Pronunciation
Verb
bite
- (intransitive) to come
Conjugation
Nonfuture indicative | Future indicative | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
affirmative | negative | affirmative | negative | ||||||
m | f | m | f | m | f | m | f | ||
1st sg | bitɨkue | biñedɨkue | 1st sg | biitɨkue | biñeitɨkue | ||||
2nd sg | bito | biñedo | 2nd sg | biito | biñeito | ||||
3rd sg anim1) | bitɨmɨe | bitɨñaiño | biñedɨmɨe | biñedɨñaiño | 3rd sg anim1) | biitɨmɨe | biitɨñaiño | biñeitɨmɨe | biñeitɨñaiño |
1st du | bitɨkoko | bitɨkaɨñaɨ | biñedɨkoko | biñedɨkaɨñaɨ | 1st du | biitɨkoko | biitɨkaɨñaɨ | biñeitɨkoko | biñeitɨkaɨñaɨ |
2nd du | bitomɨko | bitomɨñoɨ | biñedomɨko | biñedomɨñoɨ | 2nd du | biitomɨko | biitomɨñoɨ | biñeitomɨko | biñeitomɨñoɨ |
3rd du anim1) | bitaɨmaiaɨ | bitaɨñuaɨ | biñedaɨmaiaɨ | biñedaɨñuaɨ | 3rd du anim1) | biitaɨmaiaɨ | biitaɨñuaɨ | biñeitaɨmaiaɨ | biñeitaɨñuaɨ |
1st pl | bitɨkaɨ | biñedɨkaɨ | 1st pl | biitɨkaɨ | biñeitɨkaɨ | ||||
2nd pl | bitomoɨ | biñedomoɨ | 2nd pl | biitomoɨ | biñeitomoɨ | ||||
3rd pl anim1) | bitɨmakɨ | biñedɨmakɨ | 3rd pl anim1) | biitɨmakɨ | biñeitɨmakɨ | ||||
3rd neut | bite | biñede | 3rd neut | biite | biñeite | ||||
Imperative | Apprehensive | Future event | Passive | Negative passive | Overlap | ||||
simple | immediate | prohibitive | nonfuture | future | nonfuture | future | |||
biño! | biñokai! | biñeno! | biza! | biye | — | — | — | — | bikana |
Conditional | 1) The animate 3rd singular inflections are only used when the animacy of the subject needs to be emphasised. Otherwise, the neutral 3rd singular is used. *) Same-time forms may be formed from any indicative form by adding the ending -mo directly to the inflected form. **) The evidentiality markers -dɨ, -za and -ta may be added to any indicative form. | ||||||||
real | hypothetical | immediate | |||||||
bia | bina | bikaina |
Derived terms
References
- Shirley Burtch (1983) Diccionario Huitoto Murui (Tomo I) (Linguistica Peruana No. 20)[3] (in Spanish), Yarinacocha, Peru: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, page 36
- Katarzyna Izabela Wojtylak (2017) A grammar of Murui (Bue): a Witotoan language of Northwest Amazonia.[4], Townsville: James Cook University press (PhD thesis), page 76
Neapolitan
Noun
bite
North Frisian
Verb
bite
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Old Norse bíta, from Proto-Germanic *bītaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”).
Verb
bite (present tense biter, past tense bet or beit, past participle bitt, present participle bitende)
- To bite.
Derived terms
- bite i gresset
- bitende (adjective)
Related terms
- bitt (noun)
References
- “bite” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Verb
bite (present tense bit, past tense beit, supine bite, past participle biten, present participle bitande, imperative bit)
- e-infinitive form of bita (in dialects with e-infinitive or split infinitive)
References
- “bite” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old English
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *biti.
Pronunciation
Noun
bite m
- bite
Descendants
Polish
Pronunciation
Participle
bite
- inflection of bity:
Turkish
Noun
bite
West Frisian
Etymology
From Old Frisian bīta.
Pronunciation
Verb
bite
- To bite.
Inflection
Strong class 1 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
infinitive | bite | |||
3rd singular past | biet | |||
past participle | biten | |||
infinitive | bite | |||
long infinitive | biten | |||
gerund | biten n | |||
auxiliary | hawwe | |||
indicative | present tense | past tense | ||
1st singular | byt | biet | ||
2nd singular | bytst | bietst | ||
3rd singular | byt | biet | ||
plural | bite | bieten | ||
imperative | byt | |||
participles | bitend | biten |
Further reading
- “bite (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰeyd-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
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- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
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- English 1-syllable words
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- Rhymes:English/aɪt
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- English terms with audio links
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- English negative polarity items
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- African-American Vernacular English
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English colloquialisms
- English dated terms
- en:Printing
- en:Television
- English ellipses
- English class 1 strong verbs
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- en:Meals
- en:Pain
- Czech terms with IPA pronunciation
- Czech terms with homophones
- Czech non-lemma forms
- Czech noun forms
- French terms derived from Old Norse
- French terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- French terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
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- French lemmas
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- fr:Genitalia
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- Italian terms borrowed from English
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- Italian terms derived from English
- Italian 1-syllable words
- Italian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Italian/ajt
- Rhymes:Italian/ajt/1 syllable
- Italian lemmas
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- it:Dentistry
- Khumi Chin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Khumi Chin lemmas
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- Latvian terms inherited from Proto-Balto-Slavic
- Latvian terms derived from Proto-Balto-Slavic
- Latvian terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Latvian lemmas
- Latvian nouns
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- Latvian fifth declension nouns
- Latvian noun forms
- lv:Hymenopterans
- lv:Insects
- Lithuanian non-lemma forms
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- Murui Huitoto terms with IPA pronunciation
- Murui Huitoto lemmas
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- Neapolitan non-lemma forms
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- North Frisian lemmas
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- Halligen North Frisian
- Mooring North Frisian
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰeyd-
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Old Norse
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- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
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- Old English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Old English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰeyd-
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- Rhymes:Polish/itɛ
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- Polish non-lemma forms
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- West Frisian terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
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- West Frisian terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
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- West Frisian terms with IPA pronunciation
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