bait, baite, bayte, baight, beyght ( gh silent)

[In Sw. bete pasture grazing, bait, lure; Icel. beita food; be it pasture.] I. Of food or anything else attractive given with insidious design : 1. Literally : Whatever is used as an allurement to make fish or other animals take a hook, or come within the operation of a net, snare, or trap of any kind. "The pleasant'st angling is to see the fish Cut with her golden oars the silver stream, And greedily devour the treacherous bait . Shakesp. Much Ado about Nothing , iii. L (a) Gen.: Anything constituting the natural food of fishes; a worm, for instance, put on a hook. It is opposed to an artificial "fly." (b) Spec.: A contraction for WHITEBAIT (q.v.). 2. Fig .: An allurement of any kind, designed to ensnare one, or at least to bring his will under the control of the person laying the "bait." "Fruit like that Which grew in Paradise, the bait of Eve Used by the tempter." Milton: P. L. , bk. x. "They at once applied goads to its anger, and held out baits to its cupidity."-Macaulay: Hist . Eng . , ch. XXV. II. Of food given or taken with no insidious design: Food or drink taken on a journey for purpose of refreshment. bā'it-ěd, pa. par. & a. [BAIT, v.] and lead him on with a fine baited delay, till he hath pawn'd his horses to mine host of the Garter." -Shakesp. Merry Wives of Windsor , ii. 1.