Link Centre Dictionary

bate

UK/beɪt/ US/ˈbeɪt/ uncommon archaic obsolete slang

verb

1.

moderate or restrain; lessen the force of

  • “He bated his breath when talking about this affair”
  • “capable of bating his enthusiasm”
2.

flap the wings wildly or frantically; used of falcons

3.

soak in a special solution to soften and remove chemicals used in previous treatments

  • “bate hides and skins”

Origin

Formed by analogy with eat → ate or other Class 5 strong verbs (compare gave, obsolete spake, etc.), with which it shares an analogous past participle (eaten → beaten).

Phrases

  • bate an ace
  • with bated breath

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.