bait

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun anything that serves as an enticement
  2. noun something used to lure fish or other animals into danger so they can be trapped or killed
  3. verb harass with persistent criticism or carping

Etymology

From Middle English bayte, 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”), Old English bāt (“that which can be bitten, food, bait”). Related to bite.

In classic literature

Synonyms

come-on, hook, lure, sweetener

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