Bear-bait
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Alternative form of bearbait. alt-of, alternative
"He describes another entertainment as often following the bear-bait, that of mercilessly whipping a blinded bear by five or six men standing circularly with whips; the bear unable to escape because of his chain, defended himself with all his force, throwing down all that came within his reach, tearing the whips out of their hands, and breaking them."
- 1 Alternative form of bearbait. alt-of, alternative
"He also had flu, complained that the mysterious marking of his manuscripts had begun again and concluded: 'My senses tell me that the same hand which made Birmingham impossible and bear-baited me wherever I went, is responsible for my present situation.'"
Example
More examples"He describes another entertainment as often following the bear-bait, that of mercilessly whipping a blinded bear by five or six men standing circularly with whips; the bear unable to escape because of his chain, defended himself with all his force, throwing down all that came within his reach, tearing the whips out of their hands, and breaking them."
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.