Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1200-1300
Language: Old Norse
Origin: beita 'food'

bait

1 noun
     
bait
Related topics: Other Sports
bait1 [singular, uncountable]
1DSO food used to attract fish, animals, or birds so that you can catch them:
We used worms as bait.
The fish wouldn't take the bait.
2 something attractive that is offered to someone to make them do something or buy something, especially when this is done in a dishonest way that tricks people:
Plenty of people took the bait (=accepted what was on offer) and lost their life savings.
3

rise to the bait

to become angry when someone is deliberately trying to make you angry:
Senator O'Brien just smiled, refusing to rise to the bait.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary