bait

Definitions


[beɪt], (Noun)

Definitions:
- food placed on a hook or in a net, trap, or fishing area to entice fish or other animals as prey
(e.g: herrings make excellent bait for pike)



Phrases:
- fish or cut bait
- rise to the bait
- with baited breath

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


[beɪt], (Verb)

Definitions:
- deliberately annoy or taunt (someone)
(e.g: the other boys revelled in baiting him about his love of literature)

- put bait on (a hook) or in (a trap, net, or fishing area) to entice fish or animals
(e.g: I used a hook baited with fat)


Phrases:
- fish or cut bait
- rise to the bait
- with baited breath

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




definition by Oxford Dictionaries