bite

CEFRA2

/baɪt/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    to grip, cut off, or tear with or as if with the teeth or jaws.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To attack with the teeth.

Examples

  • The dog gave me a playful bite.

  • You're lucky because he didn't bite you.

At a glance

Sits at A2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To hold something by clamping one's teeth.

  2. To cut into something by clamping the teeth.

  3. To behave aggressively; to reject advances.

More examples

In context

  • As soon as you bite that sandwich, you'll know how good it is.

  • If you see me, come and say hello. I don't bite.

  • Bite down tightly, please.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

If you do not want the dog to bite you, do not blank his tail.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English biten, from Old English bītan (“bite”), from Proto-West Germanic *bītan, from Proto-Germanic *bītaną (“bite”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“split”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian biete (“bite”), West Frisian bite (“bite”), Dutch bijten (“bite”), German Low German bieten (“bite”), German beißen, beissen (“bite”), Danish bide (“bite”), Swedish bita (“bite”), Norwegian Bokmål bite (“bite”), Norwegian Nynorsk bita (“bite”), Faroese and Icelandic bíta (“bite”), Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (beitan, “bite”), Latin findō (“split”), Ancient Greek φείδομαι (pheídomai), Sanskrit भिद् (bhid, “break”).