Bite (&?;), v. t. [imp. Bit (&?;); p. p. Bitten (&?;), Bit; p. pr. & vb. n. Biting.] [OE. biten, AS. btan; akin to D. bijten, OS. btan, OHG. bzan, G. beissen, Goth. beitan, Icel. bta, Sw. bita, Dan. bide, L. findere to cleave, Skr. bhid to cleave. √87. Cf. Fissure.]
1. To seize with the teeth, so that they enter or nip the thing seized; to lacerate, crush, or wound with the teeth; as, to bite an apple; to bite a crust; the dog bit a man.
Such smiling rogues as these,
Like rats, oft bite the holy cords atwain.
Shak.
2. To puncture, abrade, or sting with an organ (of some insects) used in taking food.
3. To cause sharp pain, or smarting, to; to hurt or injure, in a literal or a figurative sense; as, pepper bites the mouth. "Frosts do bite the meads." Shak.