Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense baits, present participle baiting, past tense, past participle baited
1. variable noun
Bait is food which you put on a hook or in a trap in order to catch fish or animals.
2. verb
If you bait a hook or trap, you put bait on it or in it.
He baited his hook with pie. [VERB noun + with]
The boys dug pits and baited them so that they could spear their prey. [VERB noun]
...baited lures. [VERB-ed]
3. variable noun [oft aNOUN]
To use something as bait means to use it to trick or persuade someone to do something.
Service stations use petrol as a bait to lure drivers into the restaurants and otherfacilities.
Television programmes are essentially bait to attract an audience for advertisements.
4. verb
If you bait someone, you deliberately try to make them angry by teasing them.
He delighted in baiting his mother. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: tease, provoke, annoy, irritate More Synonyms of bait
5.
See take the bait
More Synonyms of bait
bait in British English1
(beɪt)
noun
1.
something edible, such as soft bread paste, worms, or pieces of meat, fixed to a hook or in a trap to attract fish or animals
2.
an enticement; temptation
3. a variant spelling of bate4
4. Northern England dialect
food, esp a packed lunch
5. archaic
a short stop for refreshment during a journey
verb
6. (transitive)
to put a piece of food on or in (a hook or trap)
7. (transitive)
to persecute or tease
8. (transitive)
to entice; tempt
9. (transitive)
to set dogs upon (a bear, etc)
10. (transitive) archaic
to feed (a horse), esp during a break in a journey
11. (intransitive) archaic
to stop for rest and refreshment during a journey
▶ USAGE The phrase with bated breath is sometimes wrongly spelled with baited breath
Word origin
C13: from Old Norse beita to hunt, persecute; related to Old English bǣtan to restrain, hunt, Old High German beizen
bait in British English2
(beɪt)
verb
a variant spelling of bate2
bait in American English
(beɪt)
verb transitive
1.
a.
to set attacking dogs against
people formerly baited chained bears for sport
b.
to attack as such dogs do
2.
to torment or harass with unprovoked, vicious, repeated attacks
3.
to tease or goad, esp. so as to provoke a reaction
4.
to put food, etc. on (a hook or trap) to lure animals or fish
5.
to lure; tempt; entice
6. Archaic
to feed (animals) during a break in a journey
verb intransitive
7. Archaic
to stop for food during a journey
noun
8.
food, etc. put on a hook or trap to lure fish or animals
9.
anything used as a lure; enticement
10. US, Dialectal
a large amount
we wolfed down a bait of huckleberries
11. Archaic
a stop for rest or food during a journey
SYNONYMY NOTE: to bait is to harass or goad and implies that the persecutor gets malicious pleasure fromthe act; to , badger is to pester so persistently as to bring to a state of frantic confusion; to , hound1 is to pursue or attack relentlessly until the victim succumbs [he was hounded out of office]; heckle denotes the persistent questioning and taunting of a public speaker so as to annoyor confuse him or her; , hector implies a continual bullying or nagging in order to intimidate or break down resistance;, torment, in this comparison, suggests continued harassment so as to cause acute suffering[tormented by her memories]; ride is colloquial and implies harassment or teasing by ridiculing, criticizing, etc.[they were riding the rookie unmercifully from the dugout]
Derived forms
baiter (ˈbaiter)
noun
Word origin
ME baiten < ON beita < Gmc *baitian, caus. of *bitan: for base see bite
More idioms containing
bait
take the bait
fish or cut bait
Examples of 'bait' in a sentence
bait
It would be reckless to take the bait.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
You used them as bait for your dogs.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
If you don't bite then somebody comes and takes the bait.
The Sun (2016)
I guess that if you got bored with the play, you could always amuse yourself by baiting the nearby bears.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Sit tight, or take the bait and try to push the field back, so opening up the gaps.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Now attach any old meat you have left over to the stone to use as bait.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
It ended up as fish bait and cat food.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The best bait is a fish a couple of days old and beginning to smell.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
And a little bit of bear baiting and badger tickling.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The charm bait clearly hooked a sucker.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Should she bait the audience or curry favour?
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Not to eat but to drop into a nearby lake as bait for fish.
The Sun (2016)
American pit bulls were originally bred for bear baiting and are commonly used for illegal dog fighting.
The Sun (2015)
American pit bulls descended from dogs which were used to bait fighting bulls and bears.
The Sun (2015)
What did she use as bait?
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
If they are, put out bait and traps.
The Sun (2011)
So far, none of them has taken the bait.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
This scoop is the publisher's hook and bait.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
But you still need social skills once they've taken the bait.
The Sun (2011)
Instead, you put a hook in the bait.
Christianity Today (2000)
But he won't take the bait.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Fiery'He had the bait on his hook and dived straight on it.
The Sun (2008)
They put people together who are extreme opposites - it's like bear baiting.
The Sun (2008)
In other languages
bait
British English: bait NOUN
Bait is food that you put on a hook or in a trap to catch fish or animals.
This shop sells fishing bait.
American English: bait
Brazilian Portuguese: isca
Chinese: 饵
European Spanish: cebo
French: appât
German: Köder
Italian: esca
Japanese: えさ
Korean: 미끼
European Portuguese: isca
Latin American Spanish: cebo
British English: bait VERB
If you bait a hook or trap, you put bait on it or in it.
He baited his hook with pie.
American English: bait
Brazilian Portuguese: iscar
Chinese: 放饵
European Spanish: poner el cebo en
French: appâter
German: mit einem Köder versehen
Italian: mettere l'esca a
Japanese: にえさをつける
Korean: ~을 꾀다
European Portuguese: iscar
Latin American Spanish: poner el cebo en
All related terms of 'bait'
click bait
Click bait is something on a website that encourages people to click on a link .
bait-casting
designating fishing equipment designed for use with live bait or artificial lures , in which the weight of the bait or lure pulls the line from a winch-type reel , as during casting or trolling
take the bait to rise to the bait
If you take the bait , you react to something that someone has said or done exactly as they intended you to do. The expression rise to the bait is also used, mainly in British English.
bait-and-switch
of, related to, or employing an illegal or unethical sales technique in which a seller lures customers by advertising an often nonexistent item at a bargain price and then attempts to switch their attention to more expensive items
fish or cut bait
to stop wasting time and make a decision to do something
spoon
A spoon is an object used for eating, stirring, and serving food. One end of it is shaped like a shallow bowl and it has a long handle.
Chinese translation of 'bait'
bait
(beɪt)
n(u/s)
(for fish) 鱼(魚)饵(餌) (yú'ěr)
(for animal) 诱(誘)饵(餌) (yòu'ěr)
(fig, for criminal etc) 引诱(誘)物 (yǐnyòu wù)
vt
[hook, trap]放诱(誘)饵(餌)于(於) (fàng yòu'ěr yú)
(= tease)[person]侮弄 (wǔnòng)
(noun)
Definition
an enticement
bait to attract audiences for advertisements
Synonyms
lure
The lure of rural life is proving as strong as ever.
attraction
It was never a physical attraction, just a meeting of minds.
incentive
There is little incentive to adopt such measures.
carrot (informal)
temptation
the many temptations to which they will be exposed
bribe
He was being investigated for receiving bribes.
magnet
snare
inducement
They offer every inducement to encourage investment.
decoy
He acted as a decoy to draw the dogs' attention away from the children.
carrot and stick
honeypot
enticement
The cash bonus is an added enticement for the bank's customers.
allurement
1 (verb)
Definition
to persecute or tease
He delighted in baiting his friends.
Synonyms
tease
He teased me mercilessly about going there.
provoke
I didn't want to do anything to provoke him.
annoy
Try making a note of the things that annoy you.
irritate
Their attitude irritates me.
guy (informal)
bother
I don't know why he bothers me with this kind of rubbish.
needle (informal)
She could see that she had needled him with her constant questions.
plague (informal)
I'm not going to plague you with a lot of questions.
mock
I thought you were mocking me.
rag
She was ten years older than the youngsters ragging her.
rib (informal)
wind up (British, slang)
hound
hounded by the press
torment
My older brother used to torment me by singing it to me.
harass
a celebrity routinely harassed by the paparazzi
ridicule
I admire her for allowing them to ridicule her.
taunt
Other youths taunted him about his clothes.
hassle (informal)
The children started hassling me as soon as I sat down.
aggravate (informal)
What aggravates you most about this country?
badger
She badgered her doctor time and again, pleading with him.
gall
It was their smugness that galled her most.
persecute
He described his manager as constantly persecuting him.
pester
He's always hanging round and pestering me.
goad
Charles was forever trying to goad her into losing her temper.
irk
The rehearsal process irked him increasingly.
bedevil
His career was bedevilled by injury.
take the mickey out of (informal)
take the piss out of (taboo, slang)
chaff
gibe
get on the nerves of (informal)
nark (British, Australian, New Zealand, slang)
be on the back of (slang)
piss you off (taboo, slang)
get in the hair of (informal)
get or take a rise out of
hack you off (informal)
2 (verb)
Synonyms
lure
They did not realise that they were being lured into a trap.
tempt
Don't let credit tempt you to buy something you can't afford.
seduce
The view of the lake and plunging cliffs seduces visitors.
entice
Retailers will try almost anything to entice shoppers through their doors.
beguile
Her paintings beguiled the critics.
allure
The dog was allured by the smell of roasting meat.
Additional synonyms
in the sense of aggravate
Definition
to annoy
What aggravates you most about this country?
Synonyms
annoy,
bother,
provoke,
needle (informal),
irritate,
tease,
hassle (informal),
gall,
exasperate,
nettle,
pester,
vex,
irk,
get under your skin (informal),
get on your nerves (informal),
nark (British, Australian, New Zealand, slang),
get up your nose (informal),
be on your back (slang),
piss you off (taboo, slang),
rub (someone) up the wrong way (informal),
get in your hair (informal),
get on your wick (British, slang),
hack you off (informal)
in the sense of allure
The dog was allured by the smell of roasting meat.