Bate

Pronunciation

• IPA: /beɪt/
• Rhymes: -eɪt
• Homophones: bait

Aphetic from abate.

Full definition of bate

Verb

1. (transitive) To reduce the force of something; to abate.
• DrydenAbate thy speed, and I will bate of mine.
2. (transitive) To restrain, usually with the sense of being in anticipation; as, with bated breath.
3. (transitive, sometimes figuratively) To cut off, remove, take away.
• circa 1658 Dr. Henry More, Government of the Tongue:He will not bate an ace of absolute certainty.
• HollandAbout autumn bate the earth from about the roots of olives, and lay them bare.
4. (archaic, transitive) To leave out, except, bar.
• 1610, , by William Shakespeare, act 2, scene 1:(Sebastian) "Bate, I beseech you, widow Dido."
• Beaumont and FletcherBate me the king, and, be he flesh and blood,
  He lies that says it.
5. To waste away.
6. To deprive of.
• HerbertWhen baseness is exalted, do not bate
  The place its honour for the person's sake.
7. To lessen by retrenching, deducting, or reducing; to abate; to beat down; to lower.
• John LockeHe must either bate the labourer's wages, or not employ or not pay him.
8. To allow by way of abatement or deduction.
• Southto whom he bates nothing or what he stood upon with the parliament

• Noun: From the verb, or directly from the noun debate.
• Verb: From Anglo-Saxon = contention. From Old French batre (French battre). From Late Latin batere.

Noun

1. Strife; contention.
• 1598, William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 2:... and wears his boots very smooth, like unto the sign of the leg, and breeds no bate with telling of discreet stories;
• 1888, Sir Richard Burton, The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night (Arabian Nights)So the strife redoubled and the weapons together clashed and ceased not bate and debate and naught was to be seen but blood flowing and necks bowing; ...
• 1911, H.G. Wells, The New Machiavelli:The other merely needs jealousy and bate, of which there are great and easily accessible reservoirs in every human heart.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To contend or strive with blows or arguments.
2. (intransitive, falconry) Of a falcon: To flap the wings vigorously; to bait.

From Swedish beta ("maceration, tanning")

Noun

1. An alkaline lye which neutralizes the effect of the previous application of lime, and makes hides supple in the process of tanning.
2. A vat which contains this liquid.

Verb

1. (transitive) To soak leather so as to remove chemicals used in tanning; to steep in bate.
2. (intransitive, slang) To masturbate.

Formed by analogy with eat → ate, with which it shares an analogous past participle (eaten → beaten).

Verb

1. (nonstandard)

   bate

   (simple past of beat)
   ; = beat.
• 2008 October 20th, Lee Aronsohn, David Goetsch, Steven Molaro, and , (, ; ), , episode 5: “The Euclid Alternative”Leonard Hofstadter: ’s taking you to the ; I’m going to bed.
  : Why Penny?
  Leonard: Because . Goodnight.

Anagrams

• abet, beat, beta, Beta