Bite definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary

bite in American English · 1. to seize, pierce, or cut with the teeth or with parts like jaws · 2. to cut into, as with a sharp weapon · 3. to sting, as an insect. EnglishDictionary Thesaurus WordLists Grammar EnglishEasyLearningGrammar GrammarPatterns EnglishUsage TeachingResources VideoGuides Conjugations Quiz Englishgrammar Englishcollocations Englishconfusables Englishidioms Englishusage Thematicwordlists English French German Italian Spanish Portuguese Hindi Chinese Korean Definitionof 'bite'    WordFrequency Share× Credits× bite (baɪt ) Wordforms:plural,3rdpersonsingularpresent tensebites ,presentparticiplebiting ,pasttensebit ,pastparticiplebitten 1. verb Ifyoubitesomething,youuseyourteethtocutintoit,forexampleinordertoeatitorbreak it.Ifananimalorpersonbitesyou,theyusetheirteethtohurtorinjureyou. Bothsistersbittheirnailsaschildren.[VERBnoun] Hebitintohissandwich.[VERB+into] Hehadbittenthecigaretteintwo.[VERBnounadverb/preposition] Everyyearinthiscountrymorethan50,000childrenarebittenbydogs.[VERBnounadverb/preposition] Llamaswon'tbiteorkick.[VERB] Synonyms:nip,cut,tear,wound MoreSynonymsofbite 2. countablenoun Abiteofsomething,especiallyfood,istheactionofbitingit. Hetookanotherbiteofapple.[+of] Youcannoteatabuninonebite. Synonyms:nibble,taste,peck,munch MoreSynonymsofbite Abiteisalsotheamountoffoodyoutakeintoyourmouthwhenyoubiteit. Lookforwardtoeatingthefoodandenjoyeverybite. 3. singularnoun[usuallyNOUNto-infinitive] Ifyouhaveabitetoeat,youhaveasmallmealorasnack. [informal]Itwastimetogohomeforalittlerestandabitetoeat. 4. verb Ifasnakeorasmallinsectbitesyou,itmakesamarkorholeinyourskin,andoftencausesthesurroundingarea ofyourskintobecomepainfuloritchy. Whenaninfectedmosquitobitesahuman,sporesareinjectedintotheblood.[VERBnoun] Wewereallbadlybittenbymosquitoes.[beVERB-ed] [AlsoVERB]Synonyms:sting,wound,prick MoreSynonymsofbite 5. countablenoun[oftnounNOUN] Abiteisaninjuryoramarkonyourbodywhereananimal,snake,orsmallinsecthasbittenyou. Anydogbite,nomatterhowsmall,needsimmediatemedicalattention. 6. verb Whenanactionorpolicybeginstobite,itbeginstohaveaseriousorharmfuleffect. Asthesanctionsbegintobitetherewillbemorepoliticaldifficultiesahead.[VERB] TherecessionstartedbitingdeeplyintoBritishindustry.[VERBpreposition/adverb] Synonyms:takeeffect,work,beeffective,takehold MoreSynonymsofbite 7. verb Ifanobjectbitesintoasurface,itpresseshardagainstitorcutsintoit. Theremayevenbesomewireornylonbitingintotheflesh.[VERBpreposition/adverb] Thecar'stiresbitloudlyontheruttedsnowinthestreet.[VERBpreposition/adverb,VERBnoun] [AlsoVERB] 8. uncountablenoun Ifyousaythatafoodordrinkhasbite,youlikeitbecauseithasastrongorsharptaste. [approval]...theadditionoftartaricacidtogivethewinesomebite. 9. singularnoun Iftheairorthewindhasabite,itfeelsverycold. Therewasabiteintheair,asmellperhapsofsnow. Synonyms:chill,nip,sharpness,coolness MoreSynonymsofbite 10. uncountablenoun Ifsomethingsuchasaperformanceorapieceofwritinghasbite,itisexcitingoreffective. Theteamshavethatextrabitewhentheyareplayingagainsttheirneighbours. Thenovelseemstolackbiteandtension–evenpassion. Synonyms:edge,interest,force,punch[informal] MoreSynonymsofbite 11. verb Ifafishbiteswhenyouarefishing,ittakesthehookorbaitattheendofyourfishinglineinitsmouth. Afterhalfanhour,thefishstoppedbitingandwemovedon.[VERB] Biteisalsoanoun. IfIdon'tgetabiteinafewminutesIlifttherodandtwitchthebait. 12. countablenoun[usuallyNOUNofnoun] Abiteofsomethingisasmallpartoramountofit. ...bitesofconversation. 13. Seealsolovebite,nail-biting 14. Seetobitethehandthatfeedsyou 15. Seebitesomeone'sheadoff 16. Seebiteone'slip 17. Seetakeabiteoutof 18. someone'sbarkisworsethantheirbite 19. tobitethebullet 20. tobiteoffmorethanonecanchew 21. tobitethedust 22. oncebitten,twiceshy Phrasalverbs:Seebiteback MoreSynonymsofbite COBUILDAdvancedEnglishDictionary.Copyright©HarperCollinsPublishers Video:pronunciationof bite Youmayalsolike EnglishQuizConfusables Synonymsof'bite' LanguageLover'sBlog Translateyourtext PronunciationPlaylists Wordoftheday:'houseplant' HindiTranslationof'bite' NEWfromCollins! EnglishGrammar CollinsApps WordFrequency biteinBritishEnglish (baɪt ) verbWordforms:bites,biting,bitorbitten1. togrip,cutoff,ortearwithorasifwiththeteethorjaws 2. (ofanimals,insects,etc)toinjurebypuncturingortearing(theskinorflesh)withtheteeth,fangs,etc,espasanaturalcharacteristic 3. (transitive) tocutorpenetrate,aswithaknife 4. (ofcorrosivematerialsuchasacid)toeatawayorinto 5. tosmartorcausetosmart;sting mustardbitesthetongue 6. (intransitive)angling (ofafish)totakeorattempttotakethebaitorlure 7. totakefirmholdoforacteffectivelyupon 8. togriporhold(aworkpiece)withatoolorchuck 9. (ofascrew,thread,etc)tocutintoorgrip(anobject,material,etc) 10. (transitive)informal toannoyorworry what'sbitingher? 11. (oftenpassive)slang tocheat 12. (transitive;oftenfollbyfor)AustralianandNewZealandslang toask(for);scroungefrom 13. Seebiteoffmorethanonecanchew 14. Seebitethebullet 15. Seebitethedust 16. Seebitethehandthatfeedsone 17. Seebitesomeone'sheadoff 18. Seeoncebitten,twiceshy noun19. theactofbiting 20. athingoramountbittenoff 21. awound,bruise,orstinginflictedbybiting 22. angling anattemptbyafishtotakethebaitorlure 23. informal anincisiveorpenetratingeffectorquality that'saquestionwithabite 24. alightmeal;snack 25. acutting,stinging,orsmartingsensation 26. thedepthofcutofamachinetool 27. thegriporholdappliedbyatoolorchucktoaworkpiece 28. dentistry theangleormannerofcontactbetweentheupperandlowerteethwhenthemouthisclosednaturally 29. thesurfaceofafileorraspwithcuttingteeth 30. thecorrosiveactionofacid,asonametaletchingplate 31. Seeputthebiteonsomeone CollinsEnglishDictionary.Copyright©HarperCollinsPublishers Derivedformsbiter(ˈbiter)noun WordoriginOldEnglishbītan;relatedtoLatinfinderetosplit,Sanskritbhedatihesplits WordFrequency biteinAmericanEnglish (baɪt ) verbtransitiveWordforms:bit(bɪt ),ˈbitten(ˈbɪtən )orbit,ˈbiting1.  toseize,pierce,orcutwiththeteethorwithpartslikejaws 2.  tocutinto,aswithasharpweapon 3.  tosting,asaninsect 4.  tohurtinasharp,stingingway 5.  toeatinto;corrode 6.  toinfectorpossessusedesp.inthepassivebittenbyalustforpower 7.  tocheatortrickusedesp.inthepassive verbintransitive8. a.  topressorsnaptheteeth(into,at,etc.) b.  tohaveatendencytodothis 9.  tocauseabitingsensationorhaveabitingeffect 10.  togetorkeepatighthold;grip thecarwheelsbitintothesnow 11.  toseizeabait 12.  tobecaught,asbyatrick 13. Slang suck(sense13) noun14.  theactofbiting 15.  bitingquality;sting abitetohiswords 16.  awound,bruise,orstingfrombiting 17. a.  amountoffoodbittenoff;mouthfulormorsel b.  food c.  ameal,esp.alightmealorsnack 18.  atightholdorgrip 19.  anedgeorsurfacethatgrips 20. US,Informal anamountcutofforsumdeducted thetaxtakesquiteabitefrommypaycheck 21. US,Slang moneyorpriceasked;cost;expensewiththe:usuallyusedinthephraseputthebiteon,topressforaloan,gift,orbribeofmoney 22. Dentistry thewaytheupperandlowerteethmeet 23. Etching thecorrosionofthemetalplatebytheacid Idioms: biteoffmorethanonecanchew bitethebullet bitethehandthatfeedsone Webster’sNewWorldCollegeDictionary,4thEdition.Copyright©2010by HoughtonMifflinHarcourt.Allrightsreserved. WordoriginMEbitenbeetle1,bitter,Lfindere,tosplit(seefission) Examplesof'bite'inasentence bite Theseexampleshavebeenautomaticallyselectedandmaycontainsensitivecontent.Readmore… Theferalanimalshavebegunventuringintotownsinthehuntforfoodaswinterbites.Times,SundayTimes(2017)Shebithimfourtimesastheystruggledontheirbed.TheSun(2016)Wecouldhaveabitetoeattogether.Times,SundayTimes(2016)Orperhapswhilewaitingfortherealfishtobite.Times,SundayTimes(2013)Thereseemstobenoescapefromthebitingcold.Times,SundayTimes(2010)Theyshouldstillhavealittlebite.TheSun(2015)Youcanalsogiveonebitetoyourlovedone.Times,SundayTimes(2015)Ittakesonlyonebitetobecomeinfected.Times,SundayTimes(2010) Moreidiomscontaining bite bitesomeone'sheadoff bitethehandthatfeedsyou bitethedust bitethebullet takeabiteoutofsomething asecondbiteatthecherry biteoffmorethanyoucanchew someone'sbarkisworsethantheirbite biteyourtongue COBUILDCollocations bite  alittlebit bitedeeply bitehard bitemark biteoffood bitewound bitingfly bitinginsect bittenbythebug fleabite flybite grababite hugebite lackbite nastybite painfulbite rattlesnakebite realitybites sharpbite singlebite spiderbite tickbite transmittedbyabite venomousbite Showmore... Trendsof bite Viewusagefor: AllYears Last10years Last50years Last100years Last300years Inotherlanguages bite BritishEnglish:bite /baɪt/NOUNAbiteofsomething,especiallyfood,istheactionofbitingit.Hetookanotherbiteofapple.AmericanEnglish:bite /ˈbaɪt/Arabic:عَضَّة BrazilianPortuguese:mordida Chinese:一口 Croatian:griz Czech:kousnutí Danish:bid Dutch:hapje EuropeanSpanish:mordisco Finnish:puraisu French:morsure German:Biss Greek:δάγκωμα Italian:morso Japanese:かむこと 歯Korean:한입베어물기 Norwegian:bitt Polish:ukąszenie EuropeanPortuguese:dentada Romanian:mușcăturăRussian:укус LatinAmericanSpanish:mordisco Swedish:bett insektThai:การกัดTurkish:ısırma Ukrainian:укусVietnamese:miếngcắn BritishEnglish:bite /baɪt/VERBIfyoubitesomething,youuseyourteethtocutintoit,forexampleinordertoeatitorbreakit.Ifananimalorpersonbitesyou,theyusetheirteethtohurtorinjureyou.Bothsistersbittheirnailsaschildren.AmericanEnglish:bite /ˈbaɪt/Arabic:يَعَضُّ BrazilianPortuguese:morder Chinese:咬 Croatian:gristi Czech:kousnout Danish:bide Dutch:bijten EuropeanSpanish:morder Finnish:purra French:mordre German:kauen Greek:δαγκώνω Italian:mordere Japanese:かむ 歯Korean:물다 Norwegian:bite Polish:pogryźć EuropeanPortuguese:morder Romanian:amușcaRussian:кусать LatinAmericanSpanish:morder Swedish:bita Thai:กัด Turkish:ısırmak Ukrainian:кусатиVietnamese:cắn Translateyourtextforfree Browsealphabetically bite bitching bitcoin bite biteback bitedeeply bitehard AllENGLISHwordsthatbeginwith'B' Relatedtermsof bite biteback bitehard bitemark bite-size crib-bite Viewmorerelatedwords Source DefinitionofbitefromtheCollinsEnglishDictionary ReadabouttheteamofauthorsbehindCollinsDictionaries. NewfromCollins QuickwordchallengeQuizReviewQuestion:1 - Score:0/5 bail or bale?Dragthecorrectanswerintothebox. bale bailTherewasonlyone ofhayleft.driven or drove?Whichversioniscorrect?Wehavedrivenpasttheplacenumeroustimes.Wehavedrovepasttheplacenumeroustimes.grate or great?Dragthecorrectanswerintothebox. Grate Great 250gofcheddarandaddtothesauce.boy or buoy?Dragthecorrectanswerintothebox. buoy boyWemooredtheboattoanorange .dew or due?Dragthecorrectanswerintothebox. due dewTheresultsare attheendofthemonth.Yourscore:CheckSeetheanswerNextNextquizReview Jan14,2022 Wordoftheday houseplant aplantthatisgrownindoors,primarilyfordecoration SEEFULLDEFINITION SEEPREVIOUSWORDS Signupforournewsletter Getthelatestnewsandgainaccesstoexclusiveupdatesandoffers Signmeup LatestWordSubmissions void Jan13,2022 Vou Jan13,2022 protectedcharact... Jan13,2022 clapped Jan13,2022 ViewMoreSubmit HouseplantWeek Thisweekis#houseplantweek.Whatagloriousthingtocelebrateandcounterthatpotentialpost-Christmaspsychologicalslump.Whensolittleplantlifestirsoutside,it’stimetoturnourhorticulturalgazeindoors. Readmore 9newwordsinCollinsDictionary HereisaselectionofthelatestwordsaddedtoCollinsEnglishDictionaryonline. Readmore NewYear,FreshStart?TheVocabularyofWellbeing WiththeNewYearfastapproaching,CollinsDictionarylooksintowordsrelatingtowell-beingandself-care. Readmore CollinsEnglishDictionaryApps DownloadourEnglishDictionaryapps-availableforbothiOSandAndroid. Readmore CollinsDictionariesforSchools Ournewonlinedictionariesforschoolsprovideasafeandappropriateenvironmentforchildren.Andbestofallit'sadfree,sosignupnowandstartusingathomeorintheclassroom. Readmore Wordlists Wehavealmost200listsofwordsfromtopicsasvariedastypesofbutterflies,jackets,currencies,vegetablesandknots! Amazeyourfriendswithyournew-foundknowledge! Readmore Scrabblescorefor'bite':6 QuickwordchallengeQuizReviewQuestion:1 - Score:0/5 tuba or tuber?Dragthecorrectanswerintothebox. tuba tuberThemusicwaswrittenfora andaFrenchhorn.you're or your?Dragthecorrectanswerintothebox. your you'reIleftallof messagesonyourdesk.hours or ours?Dragthecorrectanswerintothebox. ours hoursTherearefewstrangersinatownlike .stile or style?Dragthecorrectanswerintothebox. style stileShehadnotlosthergraceand .stationary or stationery?Whichversioniscorrect?Shetookasheetofstationaryfromthedrawer.Shetookasheetofstationeryfromthedrawer.Yourscore:CheckSeetheanswerNextNextquizReview CreateanaccountandsignintoaccessthisFREEcontent Registernoworlogintoaccess LANGUAGE English EnglishDictionary Thesaurus WordLists Grammar EnglishEasyLearningGrammar GrammarPatterns EnglishUsage TeachingResources VideoGuides Conjugations Quiz Englishgrammar Englishcollocations Englishconfusables Englishidioms Englishusage Thematicwordlists French EnglishtoFrench FrenchtoEnglish Grammar Conjugations Quiz German EnglishtoGerman GermantoEnglish Grammar Conjugations Quiz Italian EnglishtoItalian ItaliantoEnglish Grammar Conjugations Quiz Spanish EnglishtoSpanish SpanishtoEnglish Grammar Conjugations Quiz Portuguese EnglishtoPortuguese PortuguesetoEnglish Grammar Conjugations Hindi EnglishtoHindi HinditoEnglish Chinese EnglishtoChinese ChinesetoEnglish Quiz Korean EnglishtoKorean KoreantoEnglish TRANSLATOR GAMES Quiz Englishgrammar Englishcollocations Englishconfusables Englishidioms Englishusage Thematicwordlists Frenchgrammar Germangrammar Italiangrammar MandarinChinesecharacters Spanishgrammar Scrabble ScrabbleHome Wordchecker Help Tools SCHOOLS HomeSchool PrimarySchool SecondarySchool BLOG RESOURCES Resources CollinsWordoftheDay PaulNobleMethod VideoPronunciations WordoftheYear