bite

Definitions

1. 1.To puncture, abrade, or sting with an organ (of some insects) used in taking food.
2. 2.To cause sharp pain, or smarting, to; to hurt or injure, in a literal or a figurative sense; as, pepper bites the mouth. "Frosts do bite the meads." Shak.
3. 3.To cheat; to trick; to take in. [Colloq.] Pope.
4. 4.To take hold of; to hold fast; to adhere to; as, the anchor bites the ground. The last screw of the rack having been turned so often that its purchase crumbled, . . . it turned and turned with nothing to bite. Dickens. To bite the dust, To bite the ground, to fall in the agonies of death; as, he made his enemy bite the dust. -- To bite in (Etching), to corrode or eat into metallic plates by means of an acid. -- To bite the thumb at (any one), formerly a mark of contempt, designed to provoke a quarrel; to defy. "Do you bite your thumb at us " Shak. -- To bite the tongue, to keep silence. Shak.
5. 5.To seize something forcibly with the teeth; to wound with the teeth; to have the habit of so doing; as, does the dog bite 2. To cause a smarting sensation; to have a property which causes such a sensation; to be pungent; as, it bites like pepper or mustard.
6. 6.To cause sharp pain; to produce anguish; to hurt or injure; to have the property of so doing. At the last it [wine] biteth like serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Prov. xxiii.
7. 7.4. To take a bait into the mouth, as a fish does; hence, to take a tempting offer.
8. 8.To take or keep a firm hold; as, the anchor bites.
9. 9.The act of seizing with the teeth or mouth; the act of wounding or separating with the teeth or mouth; a seizure with the teeth or mouth, as of a bait; as, to give anything a hard bite. I have known a very good fisher angle diligently four or six hours for a river carp, and not have a bite. Walton.
10. 10.The act of puncturing or abrading with an organ for taking food, as is done by some insects.
11. 11.The wound made by biting; as, the pain of a dog's or snake's bite; the bite of a mosquito.
12. 12.A morsel; as much as is taken at once by biting.
13. 13.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.
14. 14.A cheat; a trick; a fraud. [Colloq.] The baser methods of getting money by fraud and bite, by deceiving and overreaching. Humorist.
15. 15.A sharper; one who cheats. [Slang] Johnson.
16. 16.(Print.) 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.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "bite" mean?
• What is another word for "bite"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is bite.

• What is to puncture, abrade, or sting with an organ (of some insects) used in taking food called?
• What is to cause sharp pain, or smarting, to; to hurt or injure, in a literal or a figurative sense; as, pepper bites the mouth. "Frosts do bite the meads." Shak called?
• What is to cheat; to trick; to take in. [Colloq.] Pope called?
• What is to cause sharp pain; to produce anguish; to hurt or injure; to have the property of so doing. At the last it [wine] biteth like serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Prov. xxiii called?
• What is 4. To take a bait into the mouth, as a fish does; hence, to take a tempting offer called?
• What is to take or keep a firm hold; as, the anchor bites called?
• What is the act of puncturing or abrading with an organ for taking food, as is done by some insects called?
• What is the wound made by biting; as, the pain of a dog's or snake's bite; the bite of a mosquito called?
• What is a morsel; as much as is taken at once by biting called?
• What is 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 called?
• What is a cheat; a trick; a fraud. [Colloq.] The baser methods of getting money by fraud and bite, by deceiving and overreaching. Humorist called?
• What is a sharper; one who cheats. [Slang] Johnson called?
• What is 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 called?