Home UK English bait

Meaning of bait in English:

bait

noun

  • 1mass noun Food placed on a hook or in a net, trap, or fishing area to entice fish or other animals as prey.

    ‘herrings make excellent bait for pike’
    count noun ‘fishing with live baits’
    • ‘Most are small, less than three or four feet, but occasionally a pier or jetty angler soaking a big bait hooks a fish with real shoulders.’
    • ‘The secret is to look hard for the fish and to present baits in any areas that warrant a cast.’
    • ‘Quickly and happily, I went back to the truck to grab my fishing rod and some bait.’
    • ‘The hotel caters for many avid fishers, and can store bait and fishing rods for Dave and Deirdre.’
    • ‘This week we will look at introducing bait to get the fish feeding in the right areas.’
    • ‘Of my four children, he was the one with endless patience, the one who read up on fishing techniques, different bait, hooks, lures, whatever.’
    • ‘One fish took my entire bait off the hook with no problem.’
    • ‘The advantage of using chum is that the slowly settling bits of bait can draw deep fish to the surface; this allows the astute angler to be selective.’
    • ‘The saltwater fisherman drifting a natural bait on a circle hook can free-spool several counts of line, then throw the reel in gear and point the rod at the fish.’
    • ‘This fish is commonly used for bait in the fishing industry.’
    • ‘If MCM inspectors catch anyone fishing or collecting bait or shellfish in these areas they will issue fines.’
    • ‘The exception might be near the mouth of a free-running pass, where outgoing flow might carry bait and fish from the bay into the surf.’
    • ‘The fishing in turbulent, sandy water usually is best on natural bait fished with a big rig and heavy weight near bottom.’
    • ‘This movement carries a smorgasbord of bait to schools of fish ganged in or near the cuts.’
    • ‘The possum industry would trap or use cyanide-laden bait so that the animals could be recovered and used.’
    • ‘Since when has the colour of the weights we use stopped the fish eating our bait?.’
    • ‘They took a sailfish on live fish bait suspended approximately 20 feet below the surface at 11: 10 in the morning.’
    • ‘We are more concerned here with the marine species aspect of the study which began after the Government announced that it was considering a ban on using live worms as fish bait!’
    • ‘This would be suitable for all bait fishing with dead or live baits of a reasonable size.’
    • ‘The bigger question is whether the Hispanic population is going to put up with the inevitable race baiting that underlies these periodic bash-fests.’
    lure, decoy, fly, troll, jig, plug, teaser
    View synonyms
    1. 1.1Something intended to entice someone to do something.
      ‘many potential buyers are reluctant to take the bait’
      • ‘Not that he would ever actually be elected PM, but you know what I mean - there's not even the potential for it if he won't take the bait, right?’
      • ‘Will the PM's morning radio female Piranha take the bait?’
      • ‘With Fox out of the picture (at least until the story breaks elsewhere), who's going to take the bait?’
      • ‘When stars light up on the big screen, do kids take the bait?’
      • ‘If you're inclined to take the bait, proceed with caution.’
      • ‘I believe this is a red herring that has worked well in past arguments and you keep hoping for someone to take the bait once again.’
      • ‘King didn't take the bait, but he was assassinated two years later in Memphis.’
      • ‘If you are so against feuds being artificially built up by the media then don't take the bait and shoot your mouth off in response.’
      • ‘Asked how good a player Carter might become, he refuses to take the bait, and issues a warning instead.’
      • ‘The only major-league acts yet to take the bait are the Smiths, the Jam and the Police - but it's only a matter of time.’
      • ‘If only 100 recipients take the bait, it is worthwhile since emails cost next to nothing to output.’
      • ‘If only they knew that the only way to prevent this happening is if they didn't take the bait.’
      • ‘He was smart enough by now not to take the bait and sighed as he pulled into a parking spot.’
      • ‘I gritted my teeth and decided not to take the bait.’
      • ‘She wanted to see if Katherine would take the bait.’
      • ‘The congressional subpoenas were fishing lines with no bait and no hook.’
      • ‘So he had no bait on a fishing trip, so to speak; and Mr. Ha was just waiting to be reeled in at midnight.’
      • ‘And after a few days of dangling it in front of you like bait, which you were all smart enough not to jump at, he never did call her.’
      • ‘She was tossing me bait, like she had for years, but this time I didn't want it.’
      enticement, lure, decoy, snare, trap, siren, carrot, attraction, draw, magnet, incentive, temptation, allurement, incitement, inducement
      View synonyms

  • 2

    variant spelling of bate

verb

[with object]

  • 1Deliberately annoy or taunt (someone)

    ‘the other boys revelled in baiting him about his love of literature’
    • ‘My government actually has to bait people with catchy song in order to do the thing that should be a civic duty.’
    • ‘These kids are baiting me because they want to hear it from my own mouth.’
    • ‘I don't want him to see me give in to the weight of those urges because his dad has baited me.’
    • ‘In soccer it has nearly become acceptable to bait opposing fans, to chant and jeer at the other team's followers.’
    • ‘My surprise was magnified when, instead of baiting me, Cale took one deliberate step forward and lazily asked, ‘So, are you going to eat lunch?’’
    • ‘The younger girl wondered if Sanura was baiting her, teasing her like she always did, or if she knew what she was really saying to Kira.’
    • ‘I wondered if he was just trying to bait me, jokingly tease me.’
    • ‘Even to those who consistently disagree with and bait me, I appreciate your comments and thoughts because you keep me thinking.’
    • ‘He came into office promising Black Power in the city, then made a career out of gratuitous race baiting and thumbing his nose at the white suburbs.’
    • ‘When was the last time you had blatant race baiting?’
    • ‘This movie doesn't begin to understand what movies are all about, and uses race and race baiting as a means of telling an overly tepid tale about street justice.’
    • ‘Born and reared in the east Alabama town of Oxford, the Navy veteran and ex-radio deejay had fashioned a career out of controversy and race baiting.’
    • ‘All of this happened while he endured endless taunting and baiting by racist opponents and hostile crowds and frigid responses from some of his own teammates.’
    • ‘He was trying to help some of his female German fellow workers who were being harassed and baited with cries of ‘work-shy Turks’.’
    • ‘But, I probably wouldn't expect to avoid it if I baited and insulted a bunch of great big thugs who hold a different political point of view.’
    • ‘We argued, pushed, pulled, baited, yelled, and eventually the lady kicked us out telling us to just go home.’
    • ‘He indulged in some East Coast baiting and proclaimed Los Angeles to be the center of the world.’
    • ‘Dante couldn't help baiting and rubbing her face in her partner's betrayal.’
    taunt, goad, provoke, pick on, torment, torture, persecute, badger, plague, harry, harass, hound, tease, annoy, irritate, get someone's back up
    View synonyms
    1. 1.1Cause dogs to attack (a trapped or restrained animal)
      ‘people who bait badgers’
      • ‘Dogs were often used to bait lions, tigers, bears, and other big mammals as part of bloody spectacles popular with the king and paying visitors.’
      • ‘The deer baited by the Ward Union Stag Hunt are, by definition, tame animals, as they have been confined and farmed by the Hunt.’
      • ‘In the Middle Ages they were used to chase wild boar, to bait bulls and were also used as bodyguards.’
      • ‘Most think that it refers to the fact that an albino bear was baited here.’
      • ‘Of course, if you'd rather bait bears - well, it's a rather unpleasant thing to do, and you shouldn't.’
      • ‘The badgers are baited by terriers and those who watch them bet large amounts of money on which terrier will put up the best fight against the badger.’
      • ‘Supporters of a ballot proposal that would ban bear trapping, baiting and hunting with dogs were upset over an ad that began running in September featuring a state biologist opposing the initiative.’
      • ‘They also kill badgers as well by something called baiting, but I don't know much about that.’
      • ‘Gangs of New York leaves the viewer drunk and euphoric on the sight of so much blood, like the Five Points crowds that flock to the dog baiting matches or cheer Bill on as he performs his ‘fearsome acts’.’
      • ‘The only record we have of Henslowe's polar bears being put to any use is that one of them was baited with dogs while swimming in the Thames, for the amusement of the Spanish ambassador.’
      • ‘Unrestrained dogs can easily be baited or distracted.’
      • ‘And characteristics desired at earlier times for fighting and baiting purposes were exaggerated so that the unfortunate dog became unhappily abnormal.’
      • ‘Bull owners pride themselves on making their animals as aggressive as possible either by baiting them or feeding them large quantities of arrack, the local firewater.’
      • ‘Fight the good fight and stop fox baiting now and leave the beaches open for every living creature that God created.’
      • ‘Fife Constabulary's wildlife crime officer described baiting, specially trained dogs being set on badgers, as brutally vicious.’

  • 2Put bait on (a hook) or in (a trap, net, or fishing area) to entice fish or animals.

    ‘I used a hook baited with fat’
    • ‘The size 1 hair-rigged hook was baited with two standard boilies with a pop-up on top.’
    • ‘The hook was baited with two maggots and the tackle fished a few inches over-depth.’
    • ‘Every time one of her grandkids goes fishing and baits a hook the way Grandma taught them to do, her immortality is assured.’
    • ‘The hook was baited with a little wet bread and the tackle landed on top of the very small ball of fluidised bread that I had just introduced.’
    • ‘The hook was baited with sweetcorn and I caught a last ocean-going roach at midnight for the hell of it.’
    • ‘Moving quietly into position, the hook was baited with a big chunk of meat.’
    • ‘Fishing is allowed; however, your child should not bait the hook, take the fish off the hook, or clean the fish.’
    • ‘They learn how to fish, including how to bait the hook, tie knots and rig tackle, even back up a trailer and dock a boat.’
    • ‘Michael would have to learn to bait the hooks, clean and filet the fish and pack gear when they went ashore.’
    • ‘The float was locked in position by the bulk shot, with only a number 4 shot about 1ft from the size 8 hook that was baited with a piece of flake.’
    • ‘What would it feel like to bait a hook with one of these animals, and reel in a fifty-pound largemouth?’
    • ‘Literally hundreds of millions of hooks are baited on long lines, and albatrosses have come to see fishing boats as a food source - albeit a very dangerous one.’
    • ‘We sat beneath the willows, and Cadmar dug for red worms with a little spade he took from his basket, and then both he and Gyric baited the hooks, and tied the thread lines to willow wands which Cadmar cut fresh.’
    • ‘A third apple trial was conducted during 2002 in the Moxee apple orchard to examine if oviposition could be stimulated to occur on non-bearing shoots baited with Et-E, Z-DD lures.’
    • ‘In addition, approximately 2-fold more eggs were laid in cages baited with Et-E, Z-DD lures versus with solvent-only lures in no-choice tests.’
    • ‘No eggs were deposited on non-bearing apple shoots baited with Et-E, Z-DD or the solvent control lures during the 2002 study.’
    • ‘The time to respond to requests for block baiting, which is Chicago's term for setting out baited glue-board traps for alley rats, has doubled since 2001.’
    • ‘Use a drop or two on the fingertips before baiting up.’
    • ‘Wall text explains that Joo rigged a camera inside an embalmed caribou carcass, left it in the woods baited with fresh meat and attempted to restart nature's feeding cycles.’
    • ‘Before baiting, mow the grass so more bait can reach the trails and burrows used by voles.’

Phrases

    fish or cut bait
    North American informal

    • Stop vacillating and decide to act on or disengage from something.

      ‘when it comes to flagging brands, companies are being forced to fish or cut bait’
      • ‘At some point in a long distance/physical strangers relationship, you realize it's time to fish or cut bait.’
      • ‘‘When Ben decided he wanted to come back, we knew we had to fish or cut bait,’ says Cris.’
      • ‘Since this man loves fishing, he will no doubt understand when you tell him to fish or cut bait, that you are moving with the children and he is welcome to accept a job and join you.’
      • ‘After more than two and a half years of studying ocean ills and opportunities, a blue-ribbon panel of experts says it's time to fish or cut bait.’
      • ‘By the second season of any TV show, you usually know if it's going to fish or cut bait.’
    with baited breath

    See bait

    common misspelling of "with bated breath"
    rise to the bait

    • React to a provocation or temptation exactly as intended.

      ‘Jenny was being provocatively rude, but he never rose to the bait’
      • ‘If she refuses to rise to the bait and respond to the remark, she is taken to have tacitly admitted the truth of the accusation.’
      • ‘He tried to provoke Mr Archer, who is in his 40s, into a street fight but he did not rise to the bait, even when he had turned away and was pushed in the back.’
      • ‘Boris rose to the bait, advertised his coming appearance in Hamlet, commissioned a translation, and starred in it, as promised.’
      • ‘He almost rose to the bait when a financial journalist as much as accused him personally for being responsible for the overnight increase of the euro against the dollar.’
      • ‘It's precisely because Beckham isn't rising to the bait that Luccin can afford to be so bold.’

Origin

Middle English from Old Norse beit ‘pasture, food’, beita ‘to hunt or chase’.

Pronunciation

bait

/beɪt/