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# bait

«bait» in Mova's school dictionary: **Food put on a hook or in a trap to catch fish or animals** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (bait, uncountable; a bait, rare); verb (bait, baits, baited, baiting)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Food put on a hook or in a trap to catch fish or animals. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bait/#m1)

2) Something used to tempt a person into a trap or trick. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bait/#m2)

3) To put bait on a hook or in a trap. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bait/#m3)

4) To tease or annoy someone on purpose to make them angry. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bait/#m4)

5) (slang) Obvious, too easy to notice; or clickbait meant to fool you online. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bait/#m5)

6) Bait can also mean a snack or a light meal, especially one eaten at work or on a journey (old-fashioned). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bait/#m6)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life: fishing, mouse traps. Safety: online «bait» or «clickbait» tricks people into clicking; scammers use bait such as free prizes. Phrases: take the bait (fall for the trick), bait and switch, clickbait.

### examples

- We used worms as bait to catch fish. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bait/#x1)
- Dad baited the mousetrap with cheese. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bait/#x2)
- The free phone offer was just bait to get your details. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bait/#x3)
- Don't take the bait when he teases you. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bait/#x4)
- That headline is pure clickbait. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bait/#x5)
- The bully kept baiting him to start a fight. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bait/#x6)
- The fish nibbled the bait and swam away. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bait/#x7)

### note

Bait is usually uncountable: some bait, not a bait. Do not confuse with «bate» (in «with bated breath», not baited). Taking the bait = being tricked.

### In the corpora

- [Mice will eat cheese, but they prefer grains, seeds and sweet foods, so people baiting traps usually use peanut butter.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/237-animal-minds-what-dogs-and-cats-feel-and-understand-and-do-cats-really-chase-mice/9/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «bait» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bait/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.