Meaning
To cut into something by clamping the teeth.
Etymology
Origin: Old English
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- Proto-Indo-European *-t Proto-Indo-European *bʰéydt Proto-Germanic *bītaną Proto-West Germanic *bītan Old English bītan Middle English biten English bite From Middle English biten, from Old English bītan (“bite”), from Proto-West Germanic *bītan, from Proto-Germanic *bītaną (“bite”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“split”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian biete (“bite”), West Frisian bite (“bite”), Dutch bijten (“bite”), German Low German bieten (“bite”), German beißen, beissen (“bite”), Danish bide (“bite”), Swedish bita (“bite”), Norwegian Bokmål bite (“bite”), Norwegian Nynorsk bita (“bite”), Faroese and Icelandic bíta (“bite”), Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (beitan, “bite”), Latin findō (“split”), Ancient Greek φείδομαι (pheídomai), Sanskrit भिद् (bhid, “break”).
Synonyms & Antonyms
NYT Puzzle Appearances
Accepted in 15 recorded puzzles:
- 2026-07-04BAEHILT
- 2026-02-08IBELNTU
- 2025-10-19TBEFGIN
- 2025-10-12BACEILT
- 2025-09-30IBTOLCE
- 2025-09-23TAKICEB
- 2024-09-19EBTIGLY
- 2024-07-18TABEIPZ
- 2024-07-06TBCEHIO
- 2024-04-25EBTIHLY
- 2023-10-11ETBOLCI
- 2023-10-02ITBOGDE
+3 earlier appearances in the archive.