Which is correct baited breath or bated breath?
Which is correct baited breath or bated breath?
The word bated is an abbreviation of the word abated, meaning to lessen in severity or amount. Bated is rarely used on its own as an adjective or verb anymore, but it lingers in the English language in the phrase bated breath. Baited breath is a common misspelling of bated breath.
Is it baited or bated?
Baited is the past form of the verb bait, which means to tease, harass, or put food (or bait) in a trap. A hook, witness, or animal is baited (lured, enticed, tempted). The word bated is a clipped form of the past tense of the verb abate, which means to reduce or restrain. Breath is bated.
What is bated breath called?
Bated breath first appeared in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice in 1605. Using a shortened form of abated, which means “stopped or reduced,” the phrase refers to people holding their breath in excitement or fear as they wait to see what happens next.
What is the meaning of baited breath?
Definition of with bated breath : in a nervous and excited state anticipating what will happen They waited for the answer on their application with bated breath.
How do you spell bated like bated breath?
Eagerly or anxiously, as in We waited for the announcement of the winner with bated breath. This expression literally means “holding one’s breath” (bate means “restrain”).
Who said bated breath?
Origin of “Bated Breath” The phrase ‘bated breath’ seems to have been used by William Shakespeare for the first time in his play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ in 1596. The major character, Shylock says; “Shall I bend low and in a bondman’s key, With bated breath and whispering humbleness.”
What does it mean to get baited?
Understanding how to deal with provocative acts designed to bully or cause others to bully. To ‘bait’ someone is to intentionally make a person angry by saying or doing things to annoy them. Baiting is a provocative act used to solicit an angry, aggressive or emotional response from another individual.
Is with bated breath an idiom?
Eagerly or anxiously, as in We waited for the announcement of the winner with bated breath. This expression literally means “holding one’s breath” ( bate means “restrain”). Today it is also used somewhat ironically, indicating one is not all that eager or anxious. [Late 1500s] Also see hold one’s breath, def.
What means bated?
transitive verb. 1 : to reduce the force or intensity of : restrain waited with bated breath. 2 : to take away : deduct That grave and orderly senior was not going to bate a jot of his dignity …— George Eliot.
What does Bate mean?
restrain
Definition of bate (Entry 1 of 2) transitive verb. 1 : to reduce the force or intensity of : restrain waited with bated breath. 2 : to take away : deduct That grave and orderly senior was not going to bate a jot of his dignity …—
Shall I bend low and in a bondman’s key meaning?
AND NOW WHEN ANTONIO IS IN NEED OF MONEY FROM HIM.. SHYLOCK SAYS: SHALL I BEND LOW AND IN A BONDMAN KEY WITH BATED BREATH AND RECURRING HUMBLENESS.. IN THE ABOVE LINES SHYLOCK SARCASTICALLY SAYS THAT SHOULD HE BEND INFRONT OF ANTONIO AND HOLD HIS BREATH LIKE A SERVANT HOLDS HIS BREATH INFRONT OF HIS MASTER…
What is bait slang for?
Bait means to upset through saying and/or doing something that will annoy or hurt another. An example of bait is when an investigator is interviewing a suspect, and he says insulting and demeaning things to get the person upset in order to judge his reactions.