Verb The hamster bit the child. She bit the cookie in half. Some people bite their nails when they feel nervous. A wild animal may bite if it is frightened. The patient had been bitten by a poisonous snake. The mosquitoes are biting tonight. Are the fish biting today? Noun He ate the candy bar in three quick bites. She gave her lip a gentle bite. The fisherman felt a bite at the end of his line and reeled in a fish. My teenage daughter wears a special device at night to correct her bite. Don't scratch that mosquito bite. See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The trend started on social media, with users on Instagram and Tik Tok showing off their bowls of bite-sized goodness. Jennifer Aldrich, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Sep. 2022 But a health influencer is urging people to stick to whole carrots, arguing the bite-sized option could endanger health. Bayliss Wagner, USA TODAY, 24 Aug. 2022 One of the most delicious dishes on Earth, these tiny bite-sized soup dumplings are a Shanghainese specialty. Kate Springer, CNN, 22 Aug. 2022 After Russia launched a war on February 24, 2022, our Ukrainian team moved to the west of Ukraine and abroad, evacuated our families and continued to provide our users with bite-sized learning experiences through the Headway app. Anton Pavlovsky, Forbes, 11 Aug. 2022 This podcast from the New York Times aims to make things a little easier by giving you a bite-sized scoop on the biggest story of the day everyday. Lauren Hubbard, Town & Country, 6 Aug. 2022 The newest flavor of Dunkin's popular bite-sized stuffed bagel minis is a savory onion bagel filled with chive cream cheese and topped with toasted onions. Dave Quinn, Peoplemag, 5 Aug. 2022 Later, the bite-sized skateboards became mass-produced by Somerville International's Fingerboard brand in 1987. Natasha Dye, PEOPLE.com, 28 July 2022 Add fruit purees to the base before churning or add bite-sized pieces of fruit to still-soft ice cream, fresh from the ice cream maker. April Goess, San Antonio Express-News, 13 July 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle English biten, going back to Old English bītan, going back to Germanic *bītan- (whence Old Saxon bītan "to bite, cut into," Old High German bīzan, Old Norse bíta, Gothic beitan), going back to Indo-European *bhei̯d- "split," whence also Latin findere "to split, cleave, divide" (from a derivative *bhi-n-d-), Sanskrit abhet "has split," bhinátti "(s/he) splits" and perhaps Greek pheídomai, pheídesthai "to spare, save, refrain from"