| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| bate2 |
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| PRONUNCIATION: |  b t |
| VARIANT FORMS: | also bait |
| INTRANSITIVE VERB: | Inflected forms: bat·ed also bait·ed, bat·ing, bait·ing, bates, baits
To flap the wings wildly or frantically. Used of a falcon. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English baten, from Old French batre, to beat. See batter1.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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