bait

1. 1.

   anything that serves as an enticement

   Synonymscome-onhookluresweetener

   Broadertemptation
2. 2.

   something used to lure fish or other animals into danger so they can be trapped or killed

   Synonymsdecoylure

   Broaderdevice

   Narrowerchumfisherman's lureground baitstool pigeon

   Part oftrap

Other forms of bait

plural

baits·

past tense

baited·

present participle

baiting·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about bait

What does bait mean?

bait means "harass with persistent criticism or carping". That is the primary sense; the word has 5 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in bait?

bait has 1 syllable: bait. In IPA it is /ˈbeɪt/.

What is another word for bait?

Close synonyms include tease, razz, rag, cod, tantalize. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is bait a common word?

bait is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with bait?

8 words rhyme with bait. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.