Word.ws English Dictionary

take the bait

take the bait verb: to nibble at bait on a hook.

Verb

take the bait (third-person singular simple present takes the bait, present participle taking the bait, simple past took the bait, past participle taken the bait)

  1. (literally) To nibble at bait on a hook.
    Synonyms:
    strike
  2. (figuratively) To be lured by an offer, flattery, or a provocation into doing something, especially something disadvantageous or dubious.
    • "I would like to first of all commend all of the police officers today. . . . They were in fact at various times provoked, and they didn't take the bait in any way, shape or form."1997 August 30, John Kifner, “Thousands Call on City Hall To Confront Police Brutality”, in New York Times, retrieved 08 May 2015
    • "He wanted to have a discussion about creationism. . . . But I didn't want that sort of discussion, and when I didn't take the bait, I think I spoiled the script that had been running in his head."2011 June 2, Nick Duerden, “Dave Gorman: Games for a laugh”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 08 May 2015
    Synonyms:
    bite, fall for it, rise to the bait

take the bait meaning in Malayalam

take the bait in Malayalam

to take the bait
കടിക്കുക kaṭikkuka, കൊത്തുക kottuka

Synonyms of take the bait

Forms of take the bait

third-person singular presenttakes the bait
present participletaking the bait
pasttook the bait
past participletaken the bait

Origin of take the bait

An allusion to a fish swallowing a baited hook.

Questions about take the bait

What does take the bait mean?
Take the bait means to nibble at bait on a hook.
What is take the bait in Malayalam?
Take the bait in Malayalam is കടിക്കുക (kaṭikkuka), കൊത്തുക (kottuka). See Take the bait meaning in Malayalam.
What part of speech is take the bait?
Take the bait is a verb.
What is the past tense of take the bait?
The past tense of take the bait is took the bait.

Words near take the bait in the dictionary

  1. Take Thatter
  2. Take Thatters
  3. take the aam off
  4. take the air
  5. take the back track
  6. take the bait
  7. take the ball and run with it
  8. take the bench
  9. take the biscuit
  10. take the bitter with the sweet
  11. take the bread out of someone's mouth

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: take the bait (page history and authors); കടിക്കുക (Malayalam) (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: En-au-take the bait.ogg.

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