Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Food or other lure placed on a hook or in a trap and used in the taking of fish, birds, or other animals.
  • noun Something, such as a worm, used for this purpose.
  • noun An enticement, temptation, or provocation.
  • intransitive verb To place a lure in (a trap) or on (a fishing hook).
  • intransitive verb To entice or provoke, especially by trickery or strategy.
  • intransitive verb To set dogs upon (a chained animal, for example) for sport.
  • intransitive verb To taunt or torment (someone), as with persistent insults or ridicule.
  • intransitive verb To feed (an animal), especially on a journey.
  • intransitive verb To stop for food or rest during a trip.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • . To cause to bite; set on (a dog) to bite or worry (another animal).
  • To provoke and harass by setting on dogs; set a dog or dogs to worry or fight with for sport, as an animal that is hampered or confined: as, to bait a bull or a bear.
  • To set upon, as a dog upon a captive animal; hence, to harass in any way; annoy; nag; badger; worry.
  • To feed; give a portion of food and drink to, especially upon a journey: as, to bait horses.
  • To put a bait on or in: as, to bait a hook, line, snare, or trap.
  • . To allure by a bait; catch; captivate: as, “to bait fish,”
  • . To act in a worrying or harassing manner.
  • To take food; feed.
  • To stop at an inn, while on a journey, to feed the horses, or for rest and refreshment.
  • noun etc. An obsolete form of bate, etc.
  • noun Any substance, as an attractive morsel of food, placed on a hook or in a trap to allure fish or other animals to swallow the hook or to enter the trap, and thereby be caught; specifically, worms, small fishes, etc., used in fishing.
  • noun An allurement; enticement; temptation.
  • noun A portion of food and drink; a slight or informal repast. Refreshment taken on a journey, by man or beast.
  • noun A luncheon; food eaten by a laborer during his shift.
  • noun A halt for refreshment or rest in the course of a journey.
  • noun A refreshment or refresher.
  • noun A hasty meal; a snack.
  • noun Short for whitebait.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To provoke and harass; esp., to harass or torment for sport.
  • transitive verb To give a portion of food and drink to, upon the road.
  • transitive verb To furnish or cover with bait, as a trap or hook.
  • noun Any substance, esp. food, used in catching fish, or other animals, by alluring them to a hook, snare, inclosure, or net.
  • noun Anything which allures; a lure; enticement; temptation.
  • noun A portion of food or drink, as a refreshment taken on a journey; also, a stop for rest and refreshment.
  • noun A light or hasty luncheon.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a crustacean of the genus Hippa found burrowing in sandy beaches. See Anomura.
  • intransitive verb To flap the wings; to flutter as if to fly; or to hover, as a hawk when she stoops to her prey.
  • intransitive verb To stop to take a portion of food and drink for refreshment of one's self or one's beasts, on a journey.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any substance, especially food, used in catching fish, or other animals, by alluring them to a hook, snare, trap, or net.
  • noun Food containing poison or a harmful additive to kill animals that are pests.
  • noun Anything which allures; a lure; enticement; temptation.
  • noun A portion of food or drink, as a refreshment taken on a journey; also, a stop for rest and refreshment.
  • noun A light or hasty luncheon.
  • verb obsolete, intransitive To flap the wings; to flutter as if to fly; or to hover, as a hawk when she stoops to her prey.
  • verb transitive To set dogs on (an animal etc.) to bite or worry; to attack with dogs, especially for sport.
  • verb transitive To intentionally annoy, torment, or threaten by constant rebukes or threats; to harass.
  • verb transitive To feed and water (a horse or other animal), especially during a journey.
  • verb intransitive Of a horse or other animal: to take food, especially during a journey.
  • verb transitive To attract with bait; to entice.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old Norse beita, food, fodder, fish bait. V., from Old Norse beita, to put animals to pasture, hunt with dogs; see bheid- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English bait, beite, from Old Norse beita ("food, bait"), from Proto-Germanic *baitō (“that which is bitten, bait”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to cleave, split, separate”). Cognate with German Beize ("mordant, corrosive fluid; marinade; hunting"), Old English bāt ("that which can be bitten, food, bait"). Related to bite.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

French battre de l'aile or des ailes, to flap or flutter.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English baiten, beiten, from Old Norse beita ("to bait, cause to bite, feed, hunt"), from Proto-Germanic *baitijanan (“to cause to bite, bridle”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to cleave, split, separate”). Cognate with Icelandic beita ("to bait"), Swedish beta ("to bait, pasture, graze"), German beizen ("to cause to bite, bait"), Old English bǣtan ("to bait, hunt, bridle, bit").

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Examples

Comments

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  • this is also London slang for 'obvious'

    urban dictionary's definition:

    " bait

    when something is made blatantly obvious "

    February 23, 2013