Meaning & use
bate
To restrain or reduce the force or intensity of something, especially one's breath or emotion.
See it in a sentence
They watched the final round with bated breath, hardly daring to move.
The falconer worked to bate the bird's aggression before the demonstration.
A note on using this word
Bate now survives almost only in the fixed phrase 'with bated breath'; do not confuse it with the unrelated word 'bait'.
Words with a similar meaning
restrainmoderate
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Make it your own
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