bait

Definition

Any substance, especially food, used in catching fish, or other animals, by alluring them to a hook, snare, trap, or net.

Etymology

From Middle English bayte, bait, beite, from Old Norse beita (“food, bait”), from Proto-Germanic *baitō (“that which is bitten, bait”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to cleave, split, separate”). Cognate with German Beize (“mordant, corrosive fluid; marinade”), Old English bāt (“that which can be bitten, food, bait”). Related to bite.

Example Sentences

• "attach bait to a hook"
• "catch a few using bait"
• "One of the “girls” used in this way, Pamella Bordes, later spoke of being “part of an enormous group … used as sexual bait.”"