▪ I. bate, v.1
(beɪt)
Also 6–7 baite, bayte, 7–9 bait.
[a. OF. batre (mod. battre):—late L. batĕre, battĕre, for cl. L. batuĕre. In sense 1 partly also a shortened form of debate v.]
† 1. To contend, fight, strive, with blows or arguments. Const. on. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 5913 And for he wil þus bate [Trin. MS. debate] on me, I sal him drenkil in þe se. c 1400 Destr. Troy xiv. 5914 Durst no buerne on hym bate for his bold dedis. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 26/2 Batyn, or make debate, Iurgor. |
2. Falconry. To beat the wings impatiently and flutter away from the fist or perch. (Fr. se battre: cf. abate v.1 18.)
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. iii. (1495) 412 That she bate not to ofte fro his honde. 1486 Bk. St. Alban's, Hawking A vj, Holde faste at all timys and specially whan she batith. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 99 These kites, That baite, and beate, and will not be obedient. 1631 Celestina i. 3 The Gyrfalcon bated, and I came in to set him on the pearch. 1828 Sebright Observ. Hawking 14 In the field the hood prevents them from baiting. Ibid. 48 Which assists the hawk in regaining the perch when he has baited off. |
b. fig. To flutter, struggle; to be restless or impatient. Obs.
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. ii. 14 Come, civil night..Hood my vnman'd blood, bayting in my Cheekes. 1673 Dryden Assignation i. i, You are eager, and baiting to be gone. 1682 Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. (1756) 106 It's now somewhat late to bait after things before us. |
c. with some sense of bate v.2 combined: To flutter downwards. Also to bate the wings.
| 1590 Greene Never too late (1600) 93, I haue soared with the Hobby, I shall bate with the Bunting. 1641 Milton Ch. Discip. i. Wks. (1851) 2 Till the Soule by this meanes of over-bodying herselfe..bated her wing apace downeward. |
▪ II. bate, v.2
(beɪt)
Forms: 4– bate; (4 bawt), 6–7 bayte, baite.
[aphetic form of abate v.1]
† 1. trans. To beat down or away; fig. to put an end to. Obs.
| c 1300 K. Alis. 7496 Thow batest wrong, and hauntest ryght. 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 87 Bated was þe strife. Ibid. 338 And bate alle oþer outrage. c 1430 Hymns to Virg. (1867) 57 Þe deuelis boost þus gan he bate. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 521 Bate the earth from about the roots of Oliues. |
† b. intr. To come to an end, cease. Obs.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 440 Þe rayn..batede as fast. |
2. trans. To lower, let down; fig. to cast down, humble, depress, deject. (With quot. 1834 cf. 6.)
| c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 749 Ȝut stod he strong & stif..& ne batedede noȝt is mod. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §153 Myght bere it though he lost and bate nat his countenaunce. 1530 Palsgr. 443/1, I bayte myne eares (Lydgate), I applye them to herken a thynge, Je embats. 1834 S. Rogers Inscript. Strathfieldsaye, On he went, Bating nor heart, nor hope. |
† b. to bate of, from: to bring down or remove from; to deprive of. Obs.
| 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeless ii. 13 Ffor mowtynge..bawtid ȝoure bestis of here bolde chere. 1642 Rogers Naaman 869 Who will baite their children and servants from their diligence. |
† c. intr. To become dejected or depressed. Obs.
| 1608 Tourneur Rev. Trag. ii. ii. 54, I bate in courage now. 1678 Dryden Dram. Wks. IV. 192 His Heroe..Bates of his Mettle; and scarce Rants at all. |
3. trans. To beat back or blunt the edge of. lit. and fig. (Perhaps in fig. use combined with some idea of bait v.1 II., as if ‘to satisfy the hunger of.’)
| 1535 Coverdale Jer. xlvi. 10 The swearde shal deuoure, it shal be satisfied and bated [1611 made drunke] in their bloude. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. i. i. 6 Which shall bate his sythes keene edge. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. iii. xv. 85 Caiaphas..to baite his envy, was furiously determined Jesus should die. 1827 F. Cooper Prairie I. iii. 43 And now I have bated your curiosity. |
† 4. trans. To lower in amount, weight, estimation, to reduce. Obs.
| c 1460 Pol. Poems (1859) II. 286 Theyre..wages be batyd. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. iii. 32 These greefes and losses haue so bated mee. 1607 ― Timon iii. iii. 26 Who bates mine Honor, shall not know my Coyne. 1691 Locke Money Wks. 1727, II. 34 He must bate the Labourer's Wages. |
† b. intr. To decrease in amount, weight, estimation. Obs.
| a 1541 Wyatt Poet. Wks. (1861), How that my wealth doth bate. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. iii. 2 Doe I not bate? doe I not dwindle? |
5. trans. To lessen in force or intensity; to mitigate, moderate, assuage, diminish. Now chiefly in phr. to bate one's breath: to restrain one's breathing, and make it soft and gentle.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10942 And dow þai þar-fore murnand were, Þai batid it mekil wid þair chere. 1398 Trevisa Barth. xiii. xxi. (1495) 452 Takyth fro us the beemes of the sonne and batyth heete therof. a 1650 Crashaw Poems (1858) 117 And with some daring drug, Bait the disease. a 1653 G. Daniel Idyll v. 105 Let's sift the World; and bate y{supt} Proverbe's force. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede 41 To his dying day he bated his breath a little when he told the story. |
b. intr. To fall off in force or intensity. (Cf. 6.)
| 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. §3. 29 His cheerfulness and energy did not bate a jot. |
6. trans. To strike off or take away (a part of); to deduct, subtract.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 26/2 Batyn or abaten of weyte or mesure, subtraho. 1543 Recorde Gr. Arts 120 b, Then 8..from 3 cannot be, therefore do they bate it from a hygher roume. 1602 Life T. Cromwell ii. iii. 92, I will not bate a penny. 1720 Ozell Vertot's Rom. Rep. I. iv. 202 Neither of the Parties wou'd bate any thing of its Pretensions. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. (1861) 120 I'd not bate one nail's breadth of the honest truth. |
b. with obj. (orig. dat.) of the person, etc.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, Epil., Bate me some, and I will pay you some. 1633 G. Herbert Ch. Porch xlv. in Temple 10 Do not bate The place its honour. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 488 ¶2 They offered..to bate him the article of bread and butter in the tea-table account. 1867 Parkman Jesuits N. Amer. viii. (1875) 91 Brébeuf would bate them nothing. |
c. ellipt. To deprive (a person) of; also dial. to deduct part of the wages of.
| 1823 Byron Juan xiii. xcviii, Must let slip no occasion, Nor bate (abate) their hearers of an inch. 1854 Mrs. Gaskell North & S. xvi, ‘Their business [being] to bate us down to clemming point.’ 1865 Harland Lanc. Lyrics 242 He winna' ‘bate’ me when He sees Aw 've done as weel 's aw could. Aw 'se get my wage. |
d. to bate an ace: see ace n. 3 b. bate me an ace, quoth Bolton: an obsolete expression of incredulity.
| 1570 R. Edwards Damon & P. in Hazl. Dodsl. IV. 77 Nay, there bate an ace (quod Bolton). c 1600 Day Begg-Bednell Gr. (1881) 110 Bate me an ace of that, qd. Bolton. |
† 7. To omit, leave out of count, except. Obs.
| a 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Maids Trag. i. i, Bate me the King..He lyes that saies it. 1647 R. Stapylton Juvenal 183 For, bate reward, who will at vertue aime? 1679 Dryden Œdipus iii. i, Bate but his Years, You are his Picture. 1704 Swift T. Tub (1768) I. 117 If you will bate him but the circumstances of method and style. |
† 8. to bate of: a. to make an abatement or deduction from, or lessening of. Obs.
| 1625 B. Jonson Stapl. News iii. iv, And yet not pay the use; Bate of the use? I am mad with this times manners. 1628 Earl Microcosm. vi. 14 A good conceit or two bates of such a man, and makes a sensible weakning in him. 1642 R. Carpenter Experience ii. iv. 179 The dearest friends would bate of their love. |
b. to be deficient in.
| 1633 T. Adams Exp. 2 Pet. ii. 2 Suppose the example bates of multitude, and is supplied with magnitude. |
▪ III. bate, v.3 Tanning.
(beɪt)
[immediate source doubtful; cf. Sw. beta to tan, G. beiszen to steep in lye, to macerate, also to bait v.1 (with which it is cognate).]
To steep in bate: see bate n.5
| 1875 Ure Dict. Arts III. 89 The liming and bating, or the unhairing and cleansing. 1879 Jamieson, Bait, to steep skins in a ley made of hens' or pigeons' dung, for the purpose of reducing them to a proper softness. |
▪ IV. † bate, n.1 Obs.
Forms: 4–7 bate; also 4–5 bat, 5 batte, 6 baate, bayte.
[f. bate v.1; or directly shortened from debate n.]
1. Contention, strife, discord.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 9684 Bituix mi sisteris es þe bate [Cotton MS. debat]. a 1400 Cov. Myst. (1841) 12 Cryst that lovyd not stryff nor bat. 1569 Spenser Sonnets viii, Ciuile bate Made me the spoile and bootie of the world. 1690 Shadwell Am. Bigot i. i, I'll breed no bate nor division between young people. |
b. at (the) bate: at strife, contending, fighting.
| a 1500 E.E. Misc. (1855) 64 Thowth men be now at the batte, They may be frendys anodyre day. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xx. v, Was never man yet surely at the bayte Wyth Sapyence, but that he dyd repent. 1623 Sir J. Stradling in Farr S.P. 233 A man within himself may be at bate. |
2. Comb., as bate-breeding, bate-maker, bate-making.
| 1533 More Debell. Salem Wks. 963/1 Hys bate making booke. a 1564 Becon Christ & Antichr. (1844) 517 Antichrist is our disturber, bate-maker and destroyer. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. cx, This sour informer, this bate-breeding spy. 1646 Vox Populi Pref., And our Peace-preachers turnes our Bate-makers. |
¶ With the following cf. bait n.1 III, bate v.1 2.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1461 Þen, brayn-wod for bate on burnez he [the boar] rasez. 1627 Feltham Resolves ii. xi. Wks. 181 The Bates and Flutterings of a Conscience within. |
▪ V. bate, n.2 Obs. or dial.
(beɪt)
[f. bate v.2]
† 1. Depression, lowering: cf. abate n. 1. Obs.
| 1686 Goad Celest. Bod. i. iii. 9 The difformity of the parts of the Earth..of Hault or Bate. |
2. Deduction, diminution, abatement: cf. abate n. 3. Still in north. dial., esp. in comb.
| c 1450 in Babees Bk. (1868) 329 Withoute bate or betyng be hit distribute..to powre men. 1845 Disraeli Sybil (1863) 72 You're never paid wages, but there's a bate ticket. 1851 Coal-tr. Terms Northumbld., Batework, short work. |
† 3. That which is deducted or remains over. Obs.
| 1798 Ann. Reg. 35/2 The bate or surplus of the chain remained suspended. |
▪ VI. † bate, n.3 Obs. rare.
[ad. Gr. βάτος, ad. Heb. bath.]
= bath n.3
| 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke xvi. 6 An hundred bates of oyle. |
▪ VII. bate, n.4 Obs. exc. in north. dial.
(beɪt)
[Origin unknown.]
The grain of wood or stone.
| 1664 Power Exp. Philos. iii. 159 Finding the grain and bait of the stone to lye fit for their Tranation. 1692 Ray Disc. ii. v. (1732) 231 The Bate or Texture of the wood. 1746 Arderon in Phil. Trans. XLIV. 185, I sawed seven Pieces cross the Bate or Grain. 1879 Jamieson, Bait, the grain of wood or stone. Aberd. |
▪ VIII. bate, n.5 Tanning.
(beɪt)
[immediate source doubtful; cf. Sw. beta ‘maceration, soaking, lime-pit, corrosive,’ G. beisze ‘maceration, steeping,’ f. beiszen to cause to bite, bait v.1 See bate v.3]
An alkaline lye which neutralizes the effect of the previous application of lime, and makes the hides supple; a vat containing it; the process of steeping in it.
| 1804 Hull Advertiser 30 June 2/3 A Tan-Yard, containing..Securing-tubs, and Bates. 1875 Ure Dict. Arts III. 89 The bate consists in steeping the haired hides in a solution of pigeons' dung. 1879 Jamieson, Bait, the ley in which skins are put. |
▪ IX. bate, n.6
See bait n.2
▪ X. bate
variant of bait; obs. form of boat.