Bite
(Bite), n. [OE. bite, bit, bitt, AS. bite bite, fr. bitan to bite, akin to Icel. bit, OS. biti, G. biss.
See Bite, v., and cf. Bit.]
1. The act of seizing with the teeth or mouth; the act of wounding or separating with the teeth or mouth; a
seizure with the teeth or mouth, as of a bait; as, to give anything a hard bite.
I have known a very good fisher angle diligently four or six hours for a river carp, and not have a bite.
Walton.
2. The act of puncturing or abrading with an organ for taking food, as is done by some insects.
3. The wound made by biting; as, the pain of a dog's or snake's bite; the bite of a mosquito.
4. A morsel; as much as is taken at once by biting.
5. The hold which the short end of a lever has upon the thing to be lifted, or the hold which one part of
a machine has upon another.
6. A cheat; a trick; a fraud. [Colloq.]
The baser methods of getting money by fraud and bite, by deceiving and overreaching.
Humorist.
7. A sharper; one who cheats. [Slang] Johnson.
8. (Print.) A blank on the edge or corner of a page, owing to a portion of the frisket, or something else,
intervening between the type and paper.
Biter
(Bit"er) n.
1. One who, or that which, bites; that which bites often, or is inclined to bite, as a dog or fish. "Great
barkers are no biters." Camden.
2. One who cheats; a sharper. [Colloq.] Spectator.
Biternate
(Bi*ter"nate) a. [Pref. bi- + ternate.] (Bot.) Doubly ternate, as when a petiole has three
ternate leaflets. — Bi*ter"nate*ly, adv. Gray.
Bitheism
(Bi"the*ism) n. [Pref. bi- + theism.] Belief in the existence of two gods; dualism.
Biting
(Bit"ing) a. That bites; sharp; cutting; sarcastic; caustic. "A biting affliction." "A biting jest." Shak.
Biting in
(Bit"ing in") (Etching.) The process of corroding or eating into metallic plates, by means of an
acid. See Etch. G. Francis.
Bitingly
(Bit"ing*ly), adv. In a biting manner.
Bitless
(Bit"less) a. Not having a bit or bridle.
Bitstock
(Bit"stock`) n. A stock or handle for holding and rotating a bit; a brace.
Bitt
(Bitt) n. (Naut.) See Bitts.
Bitt
(Bitt) v. t. [See Bitts.] (Naut.) To put round the bitts; as, to bitt the cable, in order to fasten it or to
slacken it gradually, which is called veering away. Totten.
Bittacle
(Bit"ta*cle) n. A binnacle. [Obs.]
Bitten
(Bit"ten) p. p. of Bite.
