live bait

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   Small living creatures such as worms, minnows or shrimp attached to a hook or put in water to attract and catch fish.

   Grammar: Uncountable: some live bait, a little live bait. Say 'a live bait fish' to count individual animals.

   Patterns

   • fish with live bait
   • use live bait

   He caught more trout with live bait than with lures.

   Live bait such as worms is sold at the tackle shop by the dozen.

   The sign said that live bait was not allowed in the reservoir.

2. 2noununcountablefigurative

   A person or animal deliberately put at risk to draw out an enemy or trap someone.

   Grammar: Usually figurative and used with 'as': they used him as live bait.

   Patterns

   • use someone as live bait

   The detectives used a young officer as live bait to catch the thief.

   I felt like live bait when they sent me into the room first.

   Hunters tied a goat up as live bait for the tiger.

Common combinations

fish with live bait

Some anglers prefer to fish with live bait.

buy live bait

We stopped to buy live bait before heading to the lake.

live bait shop

The live bait shop opens at five in the morning.

use as live bait

They used a minnow as live bait for the bass.

Synonyms and how they differ

bait

Bait is the general word and may be dead, artificial or living, while live bait must be alive.

lure

A lure is often artificial, whereas live bait is a real animal.

decoy

A decoy deceives an animal or enemy by imitation, and it need not be alive.

Opposites

Word family

bait noun

food or something used to attract prey

bait verb

to put food on a hook or trap, or to tease

baitfish noun

small fish used as bait

baiting noun

the act of placing bait

Commonly confused: live bait or bate?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “live bait”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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