ˈbear-baiting, vbl. n.
[f. bear n.1]
The sport of setting dogs to attack a bear chained to a stake; also fig.
| ? c 1475 Hunt. Hare 232 Sum seyd it was a beyr-beytyng 1586 J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinsh. II. 120/2 It was more like a bearebaiting of disordered persons, than a parlement of wise men. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. ii. v. 9 He haunts Wakes, Faires, and Beare-baitings. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 678 An old way of Recreating, Which learned Butchers call Bear-Baiting. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 161 The Puritan hated bearbaiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators. |