bait C2+ Topic:Food & Drink US /beɪt/ UK /beɪt/ See IPA manual Minimal pairs Sounds like bet /ɛ/ vs /eɪ/ Meanings 1 noun food or a lure used to entice prey; to torment or provoke He fixed a worm to the hook as bait. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · food or a lure used to... luredecoyenticementprovoketeasetorment ↔ Opposites soothepacify Word family Derived forms baiterbaiting Related forms biteabet Etymology AI details From Old Norse beita ('to cause to bite, hunt with dogs'), causative of bíta ('to bite'); related to Old English bītan. beita Old Norse *bītaną Proto-Germanic *bʰeyd- Proto-Indo-European View etymology graph -> Topics Food & Drink External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # bait **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /beɪt/ **IPA (UK):** /beɪt/ ## Meanings 1. food or a lure used to entice prey; to torment or provoke ## Examples - He fixed a worm to the hook as bait. ## Synonyms - lure - decoy - enticement - provoke - tease - torment ## Antonyms - soothe - pacify ## Derived Forms - baiter - baiting ## Related Forms - bite - abet ## Roots and Affixes - Root: beita - Root: *bītaną - Root: *bʰeyd- ## Etymology From Old Norse beita ('to cause to bite, hunt with dogs'), causative of bíta ('to bite'); related to Old English bītan. ## AI Etymology Bait is from Old Norse beita ('to cause to bite, hunt with dogs'), causative of bíta ('to bite'); related to Old English bītan. In present-day use, it means food or a lure used to entice prey; to torment or provoke. Derived formations include baiter and baiting. Related vocabulary includes bite and abet. ## Topics - Food & Drink markdown