- bite
- [[t]ba͟ɪt[/t]]
♦1) VERB If you bite something, you use your teeth to cut into it, for example in order to eat it or break it. If an animal or person bites you, they use their teeth to hurt or injure you.
[V n] Both sisters bit their nails as children...
[V into n] He bit into his sandwich...
[V n adv/prep] He had bitten the cigarette in two...
[V n adv/prep] Every year in this country more than 50,000 children are bitten by dogs...
Llamas won't bite or kick.
2) N-COUNT: oft N of n A bite of something, especially food, is the action of biting it.He took another bite of apple...
You cannot eat a bun in one bite.
N-COUNTA bite is also the amount of food you take into your mouth when you bite it.Look forward to eating the food and enjoy every bite.
3) N-SING: a N, usu N to-inf If you have a bite to eat, you have a small meal or a snack. [INFORMAL]It was time to go home for a little rest and a bite to eat.
4) VERB If a snake or a small insect bites you, it makes a mark or hole in your skin, and often causes the surrounding area of your skin to become painful or itchy.[V n] When an infected mosquito bites a human, spores are injected into the blood...
[V n] We were all badly bitten by mosquitoes. [Also V]
5) N-COUNT: oft n N A bite is an injury or a mark on your body where an animal, snake, or small insect has bitten you.Any dog bite, no matter how small, needs immediate medical attention.
6) VERB When an action or policy begins to bite, it begins to have a serious or harmful effect.As the sanctions begin to bite there will be more political difficulties ahead...
[V prep/adv] The recession started biting deeply into British industry in the early eighties.
7) VERB If an object bites into a surface, it presses hard against it or cuts into it.[V prep/adv] There may even be some wire or nylon biting into the flesh...
[V prep/adv] The car's tires bit loudly on the rutted snow in the street. [Also V, V n]
8) N-UNCOUNT (approval) If you say that a food or drink has bite, you like it because it has a strong or sharp taste....the addition of tartaric acid to give the wine some bite.
9) N-SING: a N If the air or the wind has a bite, it feels very cold.There was a bite in the air, a smell perhaps of snow.
10) N-UNCOUNT If something such as a performance or a piece of writing has bite, it is exciting or effective.The teams have that extra bite when they are playing against their neighbours...
The novel seems to lack bite and tension - even passion.
11) VERB If a fish bites when you are fishing, it takes the hook or bait at the end of your fishing line in its mouth.After half an hour, the fish stopped biting and we moved on.
N-COUNTBite is also a noun.If I don't get a bite in a few minutes I lift the rod and twitch the bait.
12) N-COUNT: usu N of n A bite of something is a small part or amount of it....bites of conversation.
13) → See also , nail-biting14) PHRASE: Vs inflect If someone bites the hand that feeds them, they behave badly or in an ungrateful way towards someone who they depend on.She may be cynical about the film industry, but ultimately she has no intention of biting the hand that feeds her.
15) PHRASE: V and N inflect (disapproval) If someone speaks or replies to you angrily, and you think they are being unfair or reacting too strongly, you can say that they bite your head off.Whenever possible, suggest she talks about it but be aware she may bite your head off for your trouble.
16) PHRASE: V and N inflect If you bite your lip or your tongue, you stop yourself from saying something that you want to say, because it would be the wrong thing to say in the circumstances.I must learn to bite my lip...
He bit his tongue as he found himself on the point of saying `follow that car'.
17) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n If something takes a bite out of a sum of money, part of the money is spent or taken away in order to pay for it.Local taxes are going to be taking a bigger bite out of people's income than they ever have before.
Phrasal Verbs:
English dictionary. 2008.
