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4 VERB If a snake or a small insect bites you, it makes a mark or hole in your skin, and often causes the surrounding area of your skin to become painful or itchy. □ [be V -ed] We were all badly bitten by mosquitoes. [Also V ]

5 N‑COUNT [oft n N ] A bite is an injury or a mark on your body where an animal, snake, or small insect has bitten you. □  Any dog bite, no matter how small, needs immediate medical attention.

6 VERB When an action or policy begins to bite , it begins to have a serious or harmful effect. □ [V ] As the sanctions begin to bite there will be more political difficulties ahead. □ [V prep/adv] The recession started biting deeply into British industry.

7 VERB If an object bites into a surface, it presses hard against it or cuts into it. □ [V prep/adv] There may even be some wire or nylon biting into the flesh. [Also V ]

8 N‑UNCOUNT If you say that a food or drink has bite , you like it because it has a strong or sharp taste. [APPROVAL ] □  …the addition of tartaric acid to give the wine some bite.

9 N‑SING If the air or the wind has a bite , it feels very cold. □  There was a bite in the air, a smell perhaps of snow.

10 VERB If a fish bites when you are fishing, it takes the hook or bait at the end of your fishing line in its mouth. □ [V ] After half an hour, the fish stopped biting and we moved on. ● N‑COUNT Bite is also a noun. □  If I don't get a bite in a few minutes I lift the rod and twitch the bait.

11 → see also love bite , nail-biting

12 PHRASE If someone bites the hand that feeds them, they behave badly or in an ungrateful way towards someone who they depend on. □  She is cynical about the film industry, but ultimately she has no intention of biting the hand that feeds her.

13 PHRASE If you bite your lip or your tongue , you stop yourself from saying something that you want to say, because it would be the wrong thing to say in the circumstances. □  I must learn to bite my lip. □  He bit his tongue as he found himself on the point of saying 'follow that car'.

14 PHRASE If something takes a bite out of a sum of money, part of the money is spent or taken away in order to pay for it. □  Local taxes are going to be taking a bigger bite out of people's income.

15someone's bark is worse than their bite → see bark

16to bite the bullet → see bullet

17to bite off more than one can chew → see chew

18to bite the dust → see dust SYNONYMS bite VERB 1

nibble:He started to nibble his biscuit.

gnaw:Woodlice attack living plants and gnaw at the stems.

chew:Be certain to eat slowly and chew your food extremely well.

crunch:Richard crunched into the apple. COLLOCATIONS bite NOUN 5

noun + bite : flea, insect, mosquito, spider, tick; dog, shark, snake

adjective + bite : fatal

bi te-sized also bite-size

1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Bite-sized pieces of food are small enough to fit easily in your mouth. □  …bite-sized pieces of cheese.

2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] If you describe something as bite-sized , you like it because it is small enough to be considered or dealt with easily. [APPROVAL ] □  …bite-sized newspaper items.

bit|ing /ba I t I ŋ/

1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Biting wind or cold is extremely cold. □  …a raw, biting northerly wind. □  Antarctic air brought biting cold to southern Chile on Thursday.

2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Biting criticism or wit is very harsh or unkind, and is often caused by such feelings as anger or dislike. □  …a furore caused by the author's biting satire on the Church.