bite

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

• intransitive verb To cut, grip, or tear with or as if with the teeth.
• intransitive verb To pierce the skin of with the teeth, fangs, or mouthparts.
• intransitive verb To sting with a stinger.
• intransitive verb To cut into with or as if with a sharp instrument.
• intransitive verb To grip, grab, or seize.
• intransitive verb To eat into; corrode.
• intransitive verb To cause to sting or be painful.
• intransitive verb To grip, cut into, or injure something with or as if with the teeth.
• intransitive verb To have a stinging effect.
• intransitive verb To have a sharp taste.
• intransitive verb To take or swallow bait.
• intransitive verb To be taken in by a ploy or deception.
• intransitive verb Vulgar Slang To be highly disagreeable or annoying.
• noun The act of biting.
• noun A skin wound or puncture produced by an animal's teeth or mouthparts.
• noun A stinging or smarting sensation.
• noun An incisive, penetrating quality.
• noun An amount removed by or as if by an act of biting.
• noun An excerpt or fragment taken from something larger, such as a film.
• noun An amount of food taken into the mouth at one time; a mouthful.
• noun Informal A light meal or snack.
• noun The act or an instance of taking bait.
• noun A secure grip or hold applied by a tool or machine upon a working surface.
• noun The part of a tool or machine that presses against and maintains a firm hold on a working surface.
• noun Dentistry The angle at which the upper and lower teeth meet; occlusion.
• noun The corrosive action of acid upon an etcher's metal plate.
• noun Slang An amount of money appropriated or withheld.
• idiom (bite off more than (one) can chew) To decide or agree to do more than one can finally accomplish.
• idiom (bite (someone's) head off) To respond to a comment in an angry or reproachful way.
• idiom (bite the bullet) To face a painful situation bravely and stoically.
• idiom (bite the dust) To fall dead, especially in combat.
• idiom (bite the dust) To be defeated.
• idiom (bite the dust) To come to an end.
• idiom (bite the hand that feeds (one)) To repay generosity or kindness with ingratitude and injury.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To cut, pierce, or divide with the teeth: as, to bite an apple.
• To remove with the teeth; cut away by biting: with off, out, etc.: as, to bite off a piece of an apple, or bite a piece out of it; to bite off one's nose to spite one's face.
• To grasp or grip with the teeth; press the teeth strongly upon: as, to bite the thumb or lip. (See phrases below.)
• To sting, as an insect: as, to be bitten by a flea.
• To cause a sharp or smarting pain in; cause to smart: as, pepper bites the mouth.
• To nip, as with frost; blast, blight, or injure.
• To take fast hold of; grip or catch into or on, so as to act with effect; get purchase from, as by friction: as, the anchor bites the ground; the file bites the iron; the wheels bite the rails.
• In etching, to corrode or eat into with aquafortis or other mordant, as a metal surface that has been laid bare with an etching-needle: often with in: as, the plate is now bitten in.
• To cheat; trick; deceive; overreach: now only in the past participle: as, the biter was bit.
• Synonyms See eat.
• To have a habit of biting or snapping at persons or things: as, a dog that bites; a biting horse.
• To pierce, sting, or inflict injury by biting, literally or figuratively.