Bait Definition

bāt

baited, baiting, baits

noun

baits

Food or other lure placed on a hook or in a trap and used in the taking of fish, birds, or other animals.

American Heritage

Food, etc. put on a hook or trap to lure fish or animals.

Webster's New World

Something, such as a worm, used for this purpose.

American Heritage

Anything used as a lure; enticement.

Webster's New World

An enticement, temptation, or provocation.

He did not take the bait by responding to the taunt and getting drawn into an argument.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

verb

baited, baiting, baits

To place a lure in (a trap) or on (a fishing hook).

American Heritage

To set attacking dogs against.

People formerly baited chained bears for sport.

Webster's New World

To stop for food during a journey.

Webster's New World

To entice or provoke, especially by trickery or strategy.

He baited me into selling him my bike by saying how much I deserved a better one.

American Heritage

To attack as such dogs do.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Other Word Forms of Bait

Singular:

bait

Plural:

From Middle English baiten, beiten, from Old Norse beita (“to bait, cause to bite, feed, hunt”), from Proto-Germanic *baitijaną (“to cause to bite, bridle”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to cleave, split, separate”). Cognate with Icelandic beita (“to bait”), Swedish beta (“to bait, pasture, graze”), German beizen (“to cause to bite, bait”), Old English bǣtan (“to bait, hunt, bridle, bit”).

From Wiktionary
From Middle English bait, beite, from Old Norse beita (“food, bait”), from Proto-Germanic *baitō (“that which is bitten, bait”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to cleave, split, separate”). Cognate with German Beize (“mordant, corrosive fluid; marinade; hunting”), Old English bāt (“that which can be bitten, food, bait”). Related to bite.

From Wiktionary
Middle English from Old Norse beita food, fodder, fish bait V., from Old Norse beita to put animals to pasture, hunt with dogs bheid- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
French battre de l'aile or des ailes, to flap or flutter.

From Wiktionary