“bitten” is a form of
bite
/baɪt/ verb, noun
- verb (transitive) To cut into something by clamping the teeth. “As soon as you bite that sandwich, you'll know how good it is.”
- verb (transitive) To hold something by clamping one's teeth.
- verb (intransitive) To attack with the teeth. “That dog is about to bite!”
- verb (intransitive, chiefly in the negative) To behave aggressively; to reject advances. “If you see me, come and say hello. I don't bite.”
- verb (intransitive) To take hold; to establish firm contact with. “I needed snow chains to make the tires bite.”
- verb (intransitive) To have significant effect, often negative. “For homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages, rising interest will really bite.”
- verb (intransitive, of a fish) To bite a baited hook or other lure and thus be caught. “Are the fish biting today?”
- verb (intransitive, figurative) To accept something offered, often secretly or deceptively, to cause some action by the acceptor. “I've planted the story. Do you think they'll bite?”
- noun The act of biting.
- noun The wound left behind after having been bitten. “That snake bite really hurts!”
- noun The swelling of one's skin caused by an insect's mouthparts or sting. “After just one night in the jungle I was covered with mosquito bites.”
- noun A piece of food of a size that would be produced by biting; a mouthful. “There were only a few bites left on the plate.”
- noun (slang) Something unpleasant.
- noun (slang) An act of plagiarism. “That song is a bite of my song!”
- noun A small meal or snack. “a bite to eat”
- noun (figuratively, uncountable) incisiveness, provocativeness, exactness.
Synonyms
sting morsel bit insect bite collation snack pungency sharpness raciness chomp seize with teeth burn prick
Etymology
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”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To seize with the teeth, so that they enter or nip the thing seized; to lacerate, crush, or wound with the teeth; as, to bite an apple; to bite a crust; the dog bit a man. Such smiling rogues as these, Like rats, oft bite the holy cords atwain. Shak.
- verb To puncture, abrade, or sting with an organ (of some insects) used in taking food.
- verb To seize something forcibly with the teeth; to wound with the teeth; to have the habit of so doing; as, does the dog bite
- verb To cause a smarting sensation; to have a property which causes such a sensation; to be pungent; as, it bites like pepper or mustard.
Etymology [OE. biten, AS. bitan; akin to D. bijten, OS. bitan, OHG. bizan, G. beissen, Goth. beitan, Icel. bita, Sw. bita, Dan. bide, L. findere to cleave, Skr. bhid to cleave. sq. root87. Cf. Fissure.]
Etymology [OE. bite, bit, bitt, AS. bite bite, fr. bitan to bite, akin to Icel. bit, OS. biti, G. biss. See Bite, v., and cf. Bit.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bite”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details