Library / English Dictionary

BAIT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Synonyms:

bait; decoy; lure

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Anything that serves as an enticement

Synonyms:

bait; come-on; hook; lure; sweetener

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

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)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Harass with persistent criticism or carping

Example:

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

Synonyms:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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:

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

Sense 3

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)

Credits

 Context examples: 

When the distressing communication at Uppercross was over, and he had seen the father and mother quite as composed as could be hoped, and the daughter all the better for being with them, he announced his intention of returning in the same carriage to Lyme; and when the horses were baited, he was off.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

But he would disgorge the bait now.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

That angular shadow up yonder was the bait, and we were the hunters.

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

A scared man was the keeper; for, having chained the brute to a stake while he drank a stoup of ale at the inn, it had been baited by stray curs, until, in wrath and madness, it had plucked loose the chain, and smitten or bitten all who came in its path.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If I could associate the idea of a bull or a bear with anyone so mild as Mr. Mell, I should think of him, in connexion with that afternoon when the uproar was at its height, as of one of those animals, baited by a thousand dogs.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

No less a bait, however, had been required to draw them to his house than his great brother-in-law.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

As these three brothers advanced towards him to carry out the Abbot's direction, the smile faded from the novice's face, and he glanced right and left with his fierce brown eyes, like a bull at a baiting.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Another man at table who had swallowed the same bait was the superintendent of the Pacific Coast agencies for the Asa Bicycle Company.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)