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A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)

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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Bite, Byte, v. Also: bitte, bitt, byt; p.t. bate, bat, bait, bayte, beit; p.p. bittine, byttyne, bettin. [ME. bite, byte, biten, OE. bítan, ON. bíta.]

1. tr. To cut into, to injure, with the teeth. Also with off.(a) a1400 Leg. S. ii. 37.
Quham it bittis, it mon be ded Ib. xlv. 271.
Thu begilis me, That gerris nocht thire bestis byt, & sla ȝone maydine c1450-2 Howlat 66.
Sum bird … will me byte c1500-c1512 Dunb. xiii. 16.
Sum … wald for invy byt of his neis Ib. lxi. 45.
Quhen uther hors had bran to byt, I got bot gris 1513 Doug. i. Prol. 252.
I hald my tung for schame, bytand my lyp Ib. iii. 6.
Thai … Deit … bytand the erd c1536 Lynd. Compl. Bagsche 128.
Se ȝe byte nother lambs nor hoggis 1549 Compl. 124/22.
Ane man in ane frenyse, quhilk bytis his auen membris vitht his tetht 1560 Rolland Seven S. 66/3.
The bair … The tre to bite began and als to gnaw 1648 Peebles B. Rec. 385.
[He] heard him say Thomas Moses did byte his thomb(b) a1400 Leg. S. ii. 39.
That serpent bate his hand Ib. xxi. 95.
Scho … with hyre tethte hyre handis bat c1400 Troy-bk. ii. 1147.
Sho … bayte in-to houndes manere All that scho myght a1500 Bk. Chess 1797.
This lordis hors … bait him sore 1513 Doug. x. viii. 121.
That onfrendly erth … bait he 1533 Boece ix. xvi. 330.
Ane wolf … bate him cruelly in the side c1550 Lynd. Meldrum 407.
Ane greit otter … bait me till he gart me bleid 1559 St. A. Kirk S. 21.
His wyfe … bait him in the arme 1574 Reg. Privy C. II. 418.
Ane dog … bait the said complenaris arme 1590 Glasgow B. Rec. I. 151.
The peice flesche quhilk scho bait 1615 Highland P. III. 195.
Ane lettre whiche he … raive and bait it with his teithe(c) a1400 Leg. S. xxi. 116.
Hyre handis twa, That scho had bittine c1420 Wynt. ii. 573.
Byttyn thai ware wytht cynyphes Ib. vi. 750.
Byttyne he wes wyth lyis to dede 1535 Stewart 29500.
He … with ane wod wolf wes bettin to the bone

b. In transferred or figurative senses. 1535 Stewart 9163.
The wynter cald that bait him to the splene Ib. 38724.
Quhair euir tha [sc. arrowis] hit, tha bait thame to the bane a1568 Bann. MS. 54 b/86.
This bird persavit weill How at hir sermond bait my conscience a1605 Montg. Misc. P. xxii. 32.
This love … byts me to the bane Ib. xlvii. 7.
Absence els does all my bouells byt

2. intr. To perform the act of biting, cutting, etc. c1475 Wall. ii. 376.
He drew the blaid, he fand it wald bitt weill c1460 Consail Wys Man 162.
Gentill hund gyrnis or he byt 1535 Stewart 2365.
The brandis brycht so bitterlie did byte c1552 Lynd. Mon. 6004.
Frome tyme thay feill the flammis fell Apone thare tender bodeis byte 1567 G. Ball. 104.
Lyke tykis ȝe byte, but can nocht bark 1581 Sat. P. xliv. 281.
Nou for ȝour vage, that ȝe may byt and gnau 1615 Soc. Ant. VII. 554.
For scharping the Maidin to bite 1627 Misc. Hist. Soc. I. 87.
I inclyne to latt him byt on the brydell

3. In comb. with a following noun, denoting ‘one who bites’.Sempill's bytescheip is intended as a pun on bischop. c1500-c1512 Dunb. Flyting 241 (M).
Myche muttoun, byt buttoun, peild gluttoun 1583 Sempill Sat. P. xlv. 130.
Then to the court this craftie lown To be a bytescheip maid him boun