Word.ws English Dictionary

biting

/ˈbaɪtɪŋ/

biting is the present participle and gerund of bite.

Noun

biting (plural bitings)

  1. An instance of something being bitten.
  2. (Kenya) A bite-sized snack.
    • Here the guests were lavishly entertained with drinks and bitings even before sitting down to dinner.1997, Women in Kenya, page 20
    • More of a cafeteria than a purebreed coffeehouse, the neat little 21 does both full meals and snacks or 'bitings'.2006, Kenya, page 116

Adjective

biting (comparative more biting, superlative most biting)

  1. Causing a stinging sensation.
    • a biting wind
    Synonyms:
    keen
  2. Cutting or incisive.
    • a biting criticism
  3. Tending to bite.
    • a biting insect

Meaning of bite

Verb

bite (third-person singular simple present bites, present participle biting, simple past bit, past participle bitten or bit)

  1. (transitive) To cut into something by clamping the teeth.
    • As soon as you bite that sandwich, you'll know how good it is.
  2. (transitive) To hold something by clamping one's teeth.
  3. (intransitive) To attack with the teeth.
    • That dog is about to bite!
  4. (intransitive) To behave aggressively; to reject advances.
    • If you see me, come and say hello. I don't bite.
  5. (intransitive) To take hold; to establish firm contact with.
    • I needed snow chains to make the tires bite.
  6. (intransitive) To have significant effect, often negative.
    • For homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages, rising interest will really bite.

See all 33 meanings of bite

Synonyms of biting

Forms of biting

Noun
pluralbitings
Adjective
comparativemore biting
superlativemost biting

Words formed from biting

Phrases with biting

15 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with biting

Questions about biting

What does biting mean?
Biting means an instance of something being bitten.
What is biting the present participle and gerund of?
Biting is the present participle and gerund of bite.
What part of speech is biting?
Biting can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce biting?
Biting is pronounced /ˈbaɪtɪŋ/.
What is the plural of biting?
The plural of biting is bitings.

Words near biting in the dictionary

  1. bithyniid
  2. bithyniids
  3. Bitica
  4. bitier
  5. bitiest
  6. biting
  7. biting back
  8. biting down
  9. biting in
  10. biting in the arse
  11. biting in the ass

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: biting (page history and authors); bite (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-biting.wav.

Cite this entry: “biting.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/biting. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.