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bite/bight/byte

bite   (bīt)

Verb., bit, bit·ten, or bit, bit·ing, bites.

Verb. Transitive.,

  • To cut, grip, or tear with or as if with the teeth.
  • To pierce the skin of with the teeth, fangs, or mouthparts.
  • To sting with a stinger.
  • To cut into with or as if with a sharp instrument: The ax bit the log deeply.
  • To grip, grab, or seize: bald treads that couldn't bite the icy road; bitten by a sudden desire to travel.
  • To eat into; corrode.
  • To cause to sting or be painful: cold that bites the skin; a conscience bitten by remorse.

Verb. Intransitive.

  • To grip, cut into, or injure something with or as if with the teeth.
  • To have a stinging effect.
  • To have a sharp taste.
  • To take or swallow bait.
  • To be taken in by a ploy or deception: tried to sell the Brooklyn Bridge, but no one bit.

Noun.

  • The act of biting.
  • A skin wound or puncture produced by an animal's teeth or mouthparts: the bite of an insect.
  • A stinging or smarting sensation.
  • An incisive, penetrating quality: the bite of satire.
  • An amount removed by or as if by an act of biting: Rezoning took a bite out of the town's residential area.
  • An excerpt or fragment taken from something larger, such as a film.
  • An amount of food taken into the mouth at one time; a mouthful.
  • Informal. A light meal or snack.
  • The act or an instance of taking bait: fished all day without a bite; an ad that got a few bites but no final sales.
  • A secure grip or hold applied by a tool or machine upon a working surface.
  • The part of a tool or machine that presses against and maintains a firm hold on a working surface.

 

bight   (bīt)

Noun.

  • A loop in a rope.
  • The middle or slack part of an extended rope.
  • A bend or curve, especially in a shoreline.
  • A wide bay formed by such a bend or curve.

 

byte   (bīt)

Noun.
A sequence of adjacent bits, usually eight, operated on as a unit by a computer.

 

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