Bate Meaning
/beɪt/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo reduce the force of something; to abate.
verbTo restrain, usually with the sense of being in anticipation
Sentence Examples
The dog will bate its breath.
I had to bate the hook to catch fish.
Mr Harris and Mrs Bate and three other teachers were there.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She tried to ____ her excitement until the surprise was revealed.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The hunters waited with ____ breath for the large deer to appear today.
Word Origin & History
Inherited from Middle English baten (“to abate”), an apheretic form of abaten, from Old French abatre (“to knock down”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Ah, left ſome Thorn ſhoul'd pierce thy tender Foot, / Or thou ſhoul'dſt fall in flying my purſuit! / To ſharp uneven Ways thy ſteps decline; / Abate thy Speed, and I will bate of mine."
— 1717, John Dryden, “Book I. [The Transformation of Daphne into a Laurel.]”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 23:
"[…] and to his dying day he bated his breath a little when he told the story of the stroke with the willow wand."
— 1859, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “Home and Its Sorrows”, in Adam Bede […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book first, page 66:
"Also about Autumne bate the earth from about the roots of Olives, and lay them bare, but in stead thereof put good mucke thereto."
— 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XVII.] CHAP. XVIII. The manner of planting, ordering, and dressing Olive trees. Also which be the conuenient times for graffing.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 1st tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 521:
"Nay, if he be of a proud humour, […] he will not Bate an Ace of abſolute certainty, but however doubtful or improbable the thing is, coming f[r]om him it muſt go for an indiſputable truth."
— 1674, [Richard Allestree], “Of Positiveness”, in The Government of the Tongue. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: At the Theater, →OCLC, page 197:
"Bate the King, and be he fleſh and blood, / He lyes that ſaies it, thy mother at fifteen / Was black and ſinful to her."
— c. 1608–1611, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Maid’s Tragedy”, in Fifty Comedies and Tragedies. […], [part 1], London: […] J[ohn] Macock [and H. Hills], for John Martyn, Henry Herringman, and Richard Marriot, published 1679, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 2, column 2:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She tried to ____ her excitement until the surprise was revealed.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The hunters waited with ____ breath for the large deer to appear today.