BAIT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bait mean? 

• BAIT (noun)
  The noun BAIT has 2 senses:

1. anything that serves as an enticement

2. something used to lure fish or other animals into danger so they can be trapped or killed

  Familiarity information: BAIT used as a noun is rare.

• BAIT (verb)
  The verb BAIT has 3 senses:

1. harass with persistent criticism or carping

2. lure, entice, or entrap with bait

3. attack with dogs or set dogs upon

  Familiarity information: BAIT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BAIT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Anything that serves as an enticement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

bait; come-on; hook; lure; sweetener

Hypernyms ("bait" is a kind of...):

enticement; temptation (something that seduces or has the quality to seduce)

Derivation:

bait (lure, entice, or entrap with bait)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Something used to lure fish or other animals into danger so they can be trapped or killed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

bait; decoy; lure

Hypernyms ("bait" is a kind of...):

device (an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bait"):

chum (bait consisting of chopped fish and fish oils that are dumped overboard to attract fish)

fish lure; fisherman's lure ((angling) any bright artificial bait consisting of plastic or metal mounted with hooks and trimmed with feathers)

ground bait (bait scattered on the water to attract fish)

stool pigeon (a dummy pigeon used to decoy others)

Holonyms ("bait" is a part of...):

trap (a device in which something (usually an animal) can be caught and penned)

Derivation:

bait (lure, entice, or entrap with bait)

• BAIT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bait    ... he / she / it baits   
Past simple: baited   
Past participle: baited   
-ing form: baiting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Harass with persistent criticism or carping

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

bait; cod; rag; rally; razz; ride; tantalise; tantalize; taunt; tease; twit

Context example:

His fellow workers razzed him when he wore a jacket and tie

Hypernyms (to "bait" is one way to...):

bemock; mock (treat with contempt)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bait"):

barrack; flout; gibe; jeer; scoff (laugh at with contempt and derision)

banter; chaff; jolly; josh; kid (be silly or tease one another)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lure, entice, or entrap with bait

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "bait" is one way to...):

entice; lure; tempt (provoke someone to do something through (often false or exaggerated) promises or persuasion)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

bait (something used to lure fish or other animals into danger so they can be trapped or killed)

bait (anything that serves as an enticement)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Attack with dogs or set dogs upon

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "bait" is one way to...):

assail; assault; attack; set on (attack someone physically or emotionally)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

 Context examples 

Well, he had taken the bait, the newspaper lies about writers and their pay, and he had wasted two years over it.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

And I should never have expected you to be lending your sanction to such vanity-baits for poor young ladies.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

In this study, the researchers used LRRK2 as bait to fish out the proteins that it normally tags.

(Too much protein may kill brain cells as Parkinson’s progresses, NINDS)

Have you not tethered a young kid under a tree, lain above it with your rifle, and waited for the bait to bring up your tiger?

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The results shows that the trap was skillfully baited.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A heavy swivel-hook, baited with fat salt-pork, was dropped overside; and by the time I had compressed the severed veins and arteries, the sailors were singing and heaving in the offending monster.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

So, when they stopped to bait the horse, and ate and drank and enjoyed themselves, I could touch nothing that they touched, but kept my fast unbroken.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

They are the devil’s pet baits.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Conversely, cyclopentanone, which is minty-smelling and is approved as a flavor and fragrance agent, attracted mosquitoes to a baited trap as effectively as carbon dioxide.

(How mosquitoes detect people, NIH)

Then he joins a rascally crew and must needs trapse off to the wars, and me with no one to bait the fire if I be out, or tend the cow if I be home.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)