bite

v. i. 1. To seize something forcibly with the teeth; to wound with the teeth; to have the habit of so doing; as, does the dog bite? [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cause a smarting sensation; to have a property which causes such a sensation; to be pungent; as, it bites like pepper or mustard. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To cause sharp pain; to produce anguish; to hurt or injure; to have the property of so doing. [ 1913 Webster ]

At the last it [ wine ] biteth like serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Prov. xxiii. 32. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To take a bait into the mouth, as a fish does; hence, to take a tempting offer. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To take or keep a firm hold; as, the anchor bites. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bite, bit, bitt, AS. bite bite, fr. bītan to bite, akin to Icel. bit, OS. biti, G. biss. See Bite, v., and cf. Bit. ] 1. The act of seizing with the teeth or mouth; the act of wounding or separating with the teeth or mouth; a seizure with the teeth or mouth, as of a bait; as, to give anything a hard bite. [ 1913 Webster ]

I have known a very good fisher angle diligently four or six hours for a river carp, and not have a bite. Walton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of puncturing or abrading with an organ for taking food, as is done by some insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The wound made by biting; as, the pain of a dog's or snake's bite; the bite of a mosquito. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A morsel; as much as is taken at once by biting. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The hold which the short end of a lever has upon the thing to be lifted, or the hold which one part of a machine has upon another. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A cheat; a trick; a fraud. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The baser methods of getting money by fraud and bite, by deceiving and overreaching. Humorist. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A sharper; one who cheats. [ Slang ] Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Print.) A blank on the edge or corner of a page, owing to a portion of the frisket, or something else, intervening between the type and paper. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, bites; that which bites often, or is inclined to bite, as a dog or fish. “Great barkers are no biters.” Camden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who cheats; a sharper. [ Colloq. ] Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]