What does "bate" mean?
Strife; contention.
Bate
/beɪt/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Strife; contention.
- Grammar: bate is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: abate, abate, ablate, abrade.
- Useful contrasts: amplify, increase, intensify.
- Usage evidence: Ah, left ſome Thorn ſhoul'd pierce thy tender Foot, / Or thou ſhoul'dſt fall in flying my purſuit! / To ſharp uneven Ways thy ſteps decline; / Abate thy Speed, and I will bate of mine.
How to use "bate"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "bate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "bate" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "bate" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "bate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "bate" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "bate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Strife; contention. uncountable
"[…] and weares his Boot very ſmooth, like vnto the Signe of the Legge; and breedes no bate with telling of diſcreete stories:"
- 2 An alkaline lye which neutralizes the effect of the previous application of lime, and makes hides supple in the process of tanning.
"The process of unliming hides and skins in tanning has been a slow and disgusting one, consisting in soaking the skins in a bath of manure in water, called bate."
- 3 direction, course, track Ireland, uncountable
"What bate are you on now = where are you going and why ? The dog is on some bate = is finding or following a scent."
- 4 A vat which contains this liquid.
Verb
- 1 To reduce the force of something; to abate. transitive
"Ah, left ſome Thorn ſhoul'd pierce thy tender Foot, / Or thou ſhoul'dſt fall in flying my purſuit! / To ſharp uneven Ways thy ſteps decline; / Abate thy Speed, and I will bate of mine."
- 2 To contend or strive with blows or arguments. intransitive
- 3 To soak leather so as to remove chemicals used in tanning; to steep in bate. transitive
- 4 simple past of beat; = beat. form-of, nonstandard, obsolete, past
"Fitzpatrick, now perceiving […] that he had made a very unfortunate mistake, began to ask many pardons of the lady; and then, turning to Jones, he said, “I would have you take notice I do not ask your pardon, for you have bate me; for which I am resolved to have your blood in the morning.”"
- 5 Clipping of masturbate. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, intransitive, slang
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 soak in a special solution to soften and remove chemicals used in previous treatments wordnet
- 7 To restrain, usually with the sense of being in anticipation transitive
"[…] and to his dying day he bated his breath a little when he told the story of the stroke with the willow wand."
- 8 Of a falcon: To flap the wings vigorously; to bait. intransitive
"The fiꝛſt is holde faſt at all timys, and ſpecially whan ſhe batith. It is calde batyng, for ſhe batith with hiꝛ ſelfe moſt oftyn cauſeles[.]"
- 9 flap the wings wildly or frantically; used of falcons wordnet
- 10 To cut off, remove, take away. figuratively, sometimes, transitive
"Also about Autumne bate the earth from about the roots of Olives, and lay them bare, but in stead thereof put good mucke thereto."
- 11 moderate or restrain; lessen the force of wordnet
- 12 To leave out, except, bar. archaic, transitive
"Bate the King, and be he fleſh and blood, / He lyes that ſaies it, thy mother at fifteen / Was black and ſinful to her."
- 13 To waste away.
"Bardoll, am I not falne away vilely ſince this laſt action? do I not bate? do I not dwindle? Why, my skinne hangs about me like an old Ladies looſe gowne."
- 14 To deprive of.
"When baseness is exalted, do not bate / The place its honour for the person's sake; […]"
- 15 To lessen by retrenching, deducting, or reducing; to abate; to beat down; to lower.
"[W]hen the Landholder's Rent falls, he muſt either bate the Labourer's Wages, or not imploy, or not pay him; which either way makes him feel the want of Money."
- 16 To allow by way of abatement or deduction.
"Theſe are the conditions of his treating with God, to whom he bates nothing or what he ſtood upon with the Parlament: as if Commiſſions of Array could deale with him alſo."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname transferred from the given name. countable, uncountable
- 2 A town in Comoé province, Burkina Faso. countable, uncountable
- 3 A village in Nova Gorica municipality, Slovenia. countable, uncountable
Example
"Ah, left ſome Thorn ſhoul'd pierce thy tender Foot, / Or thou ſhoul'dſt fall in flying my purſuit! / To ſharp uneven Ways thy ſteps decline; / Abate thy Speed, and I will bate of mine."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "bate"?
Common synonyms include: abate, abate, ablate, abrade, abstract, alleviate.
How do you use "bate" in a sentence?
Ah, left ſome Thorn ſhoul'd pierce thy tender Foot, / Or thou ſhoul'dſt fall in flying my purſuit! / To ſharp uneven Ways thy ſteps decline; / Abate thy Speed, and I will bate of mine.
How do you pronounce "bate"?
Pronounced /beɪt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Inherited from Middle English baten (“to abate”), an apheretic form of abaten, from Old French abatre (“to knock down”).
Etymology 2
* Noun: From the verb, or directly from the noun debate. * Verb: From Middle English bate (“contention”), from Old French batre (French battre), from Latin battere.
Etymology 3
Borrowed from Swedish beta (“maceration, tanning”).
Etymology 4
Formed by analogy with eat → ate or other Class 5 strong verbs (compare gave, obsolete spake, etc.), with which it shares an analogous past participle (eaten → beaten).
Etymology 5
Variant of beat (“rhythm”).
Etymology 6
From a diminutive form of Bartholomew.