bearbaits

Noun

bearbait (countable and uncountable, plural bearbaits)

1. An instance of bearbaiting.
   • Could any thing afford a stronger contrast to the grave and certainly severe study to which Elizabeth had habituated herself, than the vain and fantastic puerility of many of her recreations and habits, the unintellectual brutality of the bearbaits which she admired, or the gaudy and glittering...1840, Elizabeth Stone, Mary Margaret EGERTON (Countess of Wilton.), The Art of Needle-work, from the Earliest Ages, page 287
2. Bait used to lure bears.
   • I went first this morning to the carcass of the bison we had killed for bearbait ; I found a bear had been there, and had already had his breakfast.1940, Annals of Wyoming - Volume 12, page 97
3. A person or animal that is not very useful or respected.
   • The worst ones for straying, curiously enough, were three broken-down old “bearbaits,” which went by themselves, as is generally the case with the cast-off horses of a herd.1892, The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine - Volume 44, page 713

See all 4 meanings of bearbait