bite
verb /baɪt/
/baɪt/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they bite | /baɪt/ /baɪt/ |
| he / she / it bites | /baɪts/ /baɪts/ |
| past simple bit | /bɪt/ /bɪt/ |
| past participle bitten | /ˈbɪtn/ /ˈbɪtn/ |
| -ing form biting | /ˈbaɪtɪŋ/ /ˈbaɪtɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive, transitive] to use your teeth to cut into or through something
- Does your dog bite?
- Come here! I won't bite! (= you don't need to be afraid)
- bite into/through something She bit into a ripe juicy pear.
- bite somebody/something She was bitten by the family dog.
- Stop biting your nails!
- bite off something/sth off He bit off a large chunk of bread/He bit a large chunk of bread off.
Extra Examples- The dog had bitten right through its rope.
- He bit at his lower lip.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- badly
- off
- at
- down on
- into
- …
- bite something in half
- bite something in two
- [intransitive, transitive] to wound somebody by making a small hole or mark in their skin
- Most European spiders don't bite.
- bite somebody We were badly bitten by mosquitoes.
- [intransitive] if a fish bites, it takes food from the end of a fishing line and may get caughtWordfinder
- bait
- bite
- dragnet
- fishing
- fly
- hook
- line
- net
- rod
- trawl
- [intransitive] to have an unpleasant effect
- The recession is beginning to bite.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- deep
- hard
- begin to
- start to
use teeth
of insect/snake
of fish
have effect
Word OriginOld English bītan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch bijten and German beissen.
Idioms
be bitten by something
- to develop a strong interest in or enthusiasm for something
- He's been bitten by the travel bug.
bite the bullet
- (informal) to start to deal with an unpleasant or difficult situation which cannot be avoided
- I wasn’t happy with the way my career was going so I decided to bite the bullet and look for another job.
bite the dust (informal)
- to fail, or to be defeated or destroyed
- Thousands of small businesses bite the dust every year.
- (humorous) to die
bite the hand that feeds you
- to harm somebody who has helped you or supported you
bite/snap somebody’s head off
- (informal) to shout at somebody in an angry way, especially without reason
bite your lip
- to stop yourself from saying something or from showing an emotion
- I bit my lip and forced myself to be calm.
bite off more than you can chew
- to try to do too much, or something that is too difficultTopics Difficulty and failurec2
bite your tongue
- to stop yourself from saying something that might upset somebody or cause an argument, although you want to speak
- I didn't believe her explanation but I bit my tongue.
a/the hair of the dog (that bit you)
- (informal) alcohol that you drink in order to make you feel better when you have drunk too much alcohol the night before
once bitten, twice shy
- (saying) after an unpleasant experience you are careful to avoid something similar