bite
[verb]
Synonyms:
- cut, chew, gnaw, nip, pierce, pinch, snap, tear, wound
[noun]
Synonyms:
- wound, nip, pinch, prick, smarting, sting, tooth marks
- snack, food, light meal, morsel, mouthful, piece, refreshment, taste

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Related Idioms: sink one's teeth into
Related Words: gnaw, nibble, tooth, chaw, chew, crunch, masticate, munch, scrunch, eat

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English Thesaurus: bite, chew, gnaw, nip somebody/give somebody a nip, nibble, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. bite¹ S2 /baɪt/ verb (past tense bit /bɪt/, past participle bitten /ˈbɪtn/, present participle biting)
[Language: Old English; Origin: bitan]

1. TEETH [intransitive and transitive] to use your teeth to cut, crush, or chew something:
The dog bit him and made his hand bleed.
bite into/through/at/down
She bit into a croissant and took a sip of coffee.
An adult conger eel can easily bite through a man’s leg.
Nina pushed her fist into her mouth and bit down hard.
bite something off
a man whose arm was bitten off by an alligator
bite your nails (=bite the nails on your fingers, especially because you are nervous)
I wish I could stop biting my nails.
bite your lip (=because you are upset or not sure what to say)
She paused uncertainly, biting her lip.

2. INSECT/SNAKE [intransitive and transitive] to injure someone by making a hole in their skin ⇒ sting:
I think I’ve been bitten.
The dog’s been badly bitten by fleas.

3. PRESS HARD [intransitive] if an object bites into a surface, it presses firmly into it and does not move or slip
bite into
The hooves of the galloping horses had bitten deep into the soft earth.
He wore boots that bit into the ice.

4. EFFECT [intransitive] to start to have an unpleasant effect:
The new tobacco taxes have begun to bite.
bite into
The recession is biting into the music industry.

5. ACCEPT [intransitive] to believe what someone tells you, or to buy something they are selling, especially when they have persuaded you to do this:
The new camcorders were withdrawn after consumers failed to bite.

6. FISH [intransitive] if a fish bites, it takes food from a hook and so gets caught:
The fish just aren’t biting today.

7. bite your tongue to stop yourself from saying what you really think, even though this is difficult:
She should have bitten her tongue.

8. bite the dust informal to die, fail, or be defeated:
Italy’s championship hopes eventually bit the dust.

9. bite the bullet informal to start dealing with an unpleasant or dangerous situation because you cannot avoid it any longer:
I finally bit the bullet and left.

10. bite off more than you can chew to try to do more than you are able to do

11. he/she won’t bite spoken used to say that there is no need to be afraid of someone, especially someone in authority:
Well, go and ask him – he won’t bite!

12. what’s biting you/her etc? spoken used to ask why someone is annoyed or upset

13. somebody/something bites spoken not polite used to say that you dislike someone or something very much or think that something is very bad

14. once bitten, twice shy used to say that if you have failed or been hurt once, you will be more careful next time

15. bite the hand that feeds you to harm someone who has helped or supported you

16. be bitten by the showbiz/travel/flying etc bug to develop a very strong interest in something
⇒ bite sb’s head off at head¹(33), ⇒ nail-biting

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. bite² S3 noun

1. USING TEETH [countable] the act of cutting or crushing something with your teeth:
Antonio devoured half his burger in one bite.
take/have a bite (of something/out of something)
She picked up the sandwich and took a bite.
Can I have a bite of your apple?
give somebody a bite
Some fish can give you a nasty bite.
Her body was covered in bite marks.

2. WOUND [countable] a small hole made where an animal or insect has bitten you
snake/ant etc bite
bite of
The infection is passed by the bite of a mosquito.

3. a bite (to eat) informal a small meal:
We had a bite to eat and a couple of drinks before the flight.

4. TASTE [uncountable] a pleasantly sharp taste:
Goat’s cheese adds extra bite to any pasta dish.

5. COLD [singular] a feeling of coldness:
There was no mistaking the approach of winter; he could feel its bite.

6. STRONG EFFECT [uncountable] a special quality in a performance, piece of writing etc that makes its arguments very effective and likely to persuade people:
The film gains incisive bite from Sellers’ performance as the union chief.

7. FISH [countable] when a fish takes the food from a hook:
Sometimes I sit for hours and never get a bite.

8. another/a second bite at the cherry British English a second chance to do something

9. JAW [countable usually singular] technical the way that a person or animal’s top and bottom teeth touch when their mouth is closed:
Our dentist said that Emmy should wear a brace to improve her bite.
⇒ love bite, sound bite, ⇒ sb’s bark is worse than their bite at bark²(4)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

bite
noun
I. act of biting/amount of food
VERB + BITE have, take
PREP. between ~s She tried to talk between bites.
~ from I took a bite from the apple.
~ of Can I have a bite of your sandwich?
~ out of She took a bite out of the slab of cake.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

bite
II. of an insect/animal
ADJ. insect, mosquito, snake, etc.
VERB + BITE get I got a lot of mosquito bites last night.
BITE + NOUN mark
PREP. ~ from a bite from a poisonous snake

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

bite
III. small amount to eat
ADJ. quick
VERB + BITE grab, have We managed to grab a bite at the theatre before the show started.
PREP. ~ of a quick bite of lunch
PHRASES a bite to eat We'll have a bite to eat in town.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

bite
verb
I. use your teeth
ADV. badly Their cat was badly bitten by a dog.
off He bit off a chunk of bread.
PREP. at He bit at his lower lip.
into She bit into the apple.
through The dog had bitten right through its rope.
PHRASES bite sth in half/two

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

bite
II. have an effect
ADV. deep, hard As the recession bites harder, many small companies are going bankrupt.
VERB + BITE begin to, start to After two cold months, the coal shortage was beginning to bite.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

bite to use your teeth to cut, crush, or chew something:
The dog bit me!
I sometimes bite my fingernails when I’m nervous.
He bit into the apple.
chew to keep biting something that is in your mouth:
Helen was chewing a piece of gum.
He was chewing on a cigar.
gnaw if an animal gnaws something, it bites it repeatedly:
The dog was in the yard gnawing on a bone.
nip somebody/give somebody a nip to give someone or something a small sharp bite:
When I took the hamster out of his cage, he nipped me.
nibble to take a lot of small bites from something:
A fish nibbled at the bait.
She sat at her desk, nibbling her sandwich.
sink your teeth into somebody/something to bite someone or something with a lot of force, so that your teeth go right into them:
The dog sank its teeth into my leg.
He sank his teeth into the steak.
chomp on something informal to bite something and chew it in a noisy way:
The donkey was chomping on a carrot.
He was chomping away on big slice of toast.
sting if an insect stings you, it makes a very small hole in your skin. You use sting about bees, wasps, and scorpions, and bite about mosquitoes, ants, spiders, and snakes:
She stepped on a wasps’ nest and must have been stung at least 20 times.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

bite
baɪt
See: bark worse than one's bite , put the bite on , once bitten , twice shy at burnt child dreads the fire

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲