BITE


Meaning of BITE in English

I. verb

COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES

a bit depressed British English spoken:

I felt a bit depressed because I was so short of money.

a bit of a chat spoken BrE:

Perhaps I could have a bit of a chat with him.

a bit of a cheek

It’s a bit of a cheek , asking me for money.

a bit of a misunderstanding British English

I’m afraid it’s all a bit of a misunderstanding.

a bite mark (= a mark where something has bitten you )

Her arms were covered in itchy bite marks.

a bite to eat (= a small meal )

We should have time for a bite to eat before we set out.

a bit/little scared

I was always a little scared of my father.

a dog bites sb

Their dog had bitten a little girl on the leg.

a fish bites (= it takes food from a hook and gets caught )

The fish aren’t biting today.

a little/a bit nervous

I was a little nervous before the interview.

a piece/bit of cheese

Would you like a piece of cheese?

a piece/bit of chocolate

Would you like a piece of chocolate?

a piece/bit of information ( also an item of information formal )

He provided me with several useful pieces of information.

a snake bites sb

I might get bitten by a snake.

a spider bites sb

He was bitten by a tropical spider in a bunch of bananas.

an icy/biting/bitter wind (= very cold )

She shivered in the icy wind.

an insect bite

He was worried about a large red insect bite on his back.

be a bit of a blow British English especially spoken (= be disappointing or cause problems for you )

The result was a bit of a blow for the team.

be a bit of a gamble (= involve a small amount of risk )

It was a bit of a gamble putting him on the field, but he played well.

be (a bit of a) minefield

Dating can be a bit of a minefield.

be a bit of a myth (= be not really true )

The whole story is a bit of a myth.

be a bit of a shock British English especially spoken (= be a shock, but not very serious or unpleasant )

I wasn’t expecting to win, so it was a bit of a shock.

be a bit of an exaggeration informal (= be a slight exaggeration )

It's a bit of an exaggeration to say he's handsome.

bit part

He’s had bit parts in a couple of soaps.

bit player

Although he was NRC chairman, Hervey was strictly a bit player in government.

bite into an apple

Sue bit into her apple with a loud crunch.

bite your nails

Eddie bit his nails nervously.

every bit as much as

I loved him every bit as much as she did.

every last drop/bit/scrap etc (= all of something, including even the smallest amount of it )

They made us pick up every last scrap of paper.

is a bit of a mess

Sorry – the place is a bit of a mess .

I’m a bit short British English spoken (= I haven’t got much money at the moment )

Let’s have a bit of hush

Let’s have a bit of hush , please, gentlemen.

love bite

nails...bitten to the quick

Her nails were bitten to the quick .

savage/stinging/vicious/biting satire

a biting satire of the television industry

see you in a bit British English (= see you soon )

sound bite

threepenny bit

tiny bit

She always felt a tiny bit sad.

went a bit mad (= spent a lot of money )

We went a bit mad and ordered champagne.

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADVERB

back

But the apple is biting back .

Unfortunately, the very live bat bit back , and Osbourne underwent a painful series of precautionary rabies injections.

So she bit back her explanation, even though she could not bring herself to respond to André's embrace.

Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, biting back a cry, and she winced.

But she bit back the words.

And biting back ... the Whitesnake man plays it again.

She had the insane desire to tell all that to this man, but she bit back the words.

She bit back on her irritation.

deep

The handcuffs bit deep into his wrist as Sullivan pulled at the fallen body beside him.

Cherith's betrayal had bitten deep , then - deeper even than Folly had realised.

down

He bit down on it, and the display began to supply proximity and ground contour information.

She bit down on her garlic, which cracked coldly, like bamboo being sliced by a knife.

She felt faint now, but for a very different reason, and she bit down hard on her lip.

By bracing herself against the tree and biting down hard on her lip, she was able to struggle to her feet.

The nails on the hand clutching the pen were bitten down to the quick - always a sign of savagery.

Yeah, so I was just telling Mr Glover that the fish are biting down there this afternoon.

She bit down on his lower lip, gently, just enough to excite and not enough to hurt.

I put my arm over my mouth and bit down on it to keep from crying out.

hard

Lily put her fist in her mouth and bit hard on her fingers.

She twisted her mouth in a cry of sheer ecstasy and bit hard on her lip.

Her teeth bit hard into her lower lip.

The boy smiled faintly, and then bit hard on his lips and gnawed the smile away.

off

My head had been bitten off .

He just might bite off a finger or a nose or poke you in the ear.

But what happened to me was that my head was bitten off almost literally.

It must, instead, be bitten off like this: 1.

Striped in a tiger mask, he feinted across the counter at Melanie; she bit off an exclamation.

The last thing he did was bite off the little finger of her left hand.

Council members took jabs and butted heads and bit off ears, figuratively speaking.

The 435 members of the House each are expected to bite off a specialty and run with it.

once

Once bitten and the bite had gone deeper, he now knew, than he had ever appreciated.

■ NOUN

bug

It was then that the drama bug had bitten .

The bug had even bitten the hawkers.

The collecting bug often bites early.

It felt cool and astringent but the bugs kept biting .

bullet

In the February issue I warned you that I was going to bite the bullet and buy a real computer.

You see, as Job Survivor I am sweating bullets by night, biting bullets by day.

If the Socialists win the election, they too will have to bite the bullet .

It means Labour biting the bullet .

Shouldn't we bite the bullet now and legislate, as many are suggesting?

When fate marks you down for immortality you'd just better bite the bullet and lace your boots up tight.

dust

The finale of Unforgiven is as much a tragedy for the survivors as for those who bite the dust .

Another good restaurant bites the dust -- end of story, right?

So what are you going to do, now that your favourite C64 action mag has bitten the dust ?

They bite the dust with lead in their bellies.

hand

Somehow, without guidance and peer influence, cricketers are apt to bite the hand that feeds them.

The third woman went to pull a weed in her front yard and a rattler bit her hand .

The studs bit into Trent's hand .

This appears to be a new version of biting the hand that feeds you.

He bit him in the hand .

It is hard to bite the hand that feeds you.

Should they then turn around to bite the hand that takes down their volunteered confessions, they will fail.

Why does a cat sometimes bite the hand that strokes it?

head

This Katherine bites the heads off rag-dolls and threatens her sister Bianca with a pair of pinking shears.

He had no right to bite the head off one of his staunchest friends.

You could trust him not to take the mickey, or to turn round and bite your head off.

A geek is a carnival performer who bites the heads off live chickens and snakes.

Just to bite their heads off.

His ankles are reddened by sand-flea bites , his head has been shorn to indicate his reduction in status.

I could have bitten her head off.

Not two minutes in his company and she was biting his head off.

lip

Now she stopped, biting her lip .

She was biting her lower lip .

Emily bit her lip , the girl was obviously in touch with Craig, perhaps they were even living in the same house.

She bit her lip over the length, but there was little she could do about it.

She bound her brows and bit her lower lip and generally carried on like some one with serious constipation.

She bit on her lip , an exquisite agony tearing her apart.

Dinah bit her lips , to keep from screaming.

Peach bit her lip , feeling the sweat trickle down the back of her shirt.

mosquito

We lived in the bush, drank muddy water, were bitten by mosquitoes .

Dear Madam: I have your claim for $ 5. 00 for having been bitten by a mosquito on our train.

People living near Lambarene can be bitten by infected mosquitoes as often as 100 times a night.

Humans contract the disease when bitten by mosquitoes that have been infected by primates.

Through that hot and humid night, he was bitten by mosquitoes and nipped by rats.

nail

His nails were bitten to the quicks.

Lissa's nails bit convulsively into her palms.

He thrust his face into hers, forcing her to breathe his rancid breath; his untrimmed nails bit into her arms.

Her hands were small and her nails were bitten and short.

Quiet, reserved, with finger nails bitten down to the quick, Jim stood just five foot six inches tall.

piece

If you then hold food near its mouth, it will bite off pieces and swallow them.

recession

Their worst patch was in 1989 and 1990, before recession really bit .

The recession may be biting in our own larders.

Hard-up families in the stockbroker belt are begging state schools to bail them out as the recession bites deeper.

Trafalgar shares have slumped from a peak of £3.96 three years ago as the recession has bitten into profits.

snake

They turn into snakes and bite each other.

They knew, and he knew, that when that snake bit YOu, you died.

sound

I was thinking back to famous historical sound bites .

Great inaugural speeches generally have one memorable sound bite .

It was hardly the stuff of which sound bites are made.

The issue is too complicated for honest sound bites anyway.

tongue

He's not and would be wise to bite his tongue .

He wished with all his soul that he had bitten his tongue instead.

Polly battled on, practically biting her tongue in half.

Tell them to bite their tongues .

Whatever the reason, Dauntless bit his tongue and resolved to put up with Cleo Sinister.

Ivan Yerineev was thrown to the ground and bit off his tongue .

She could have bitten off her impulsive tongue .

But they want a pink one, so Ralph takes out a pink one, bites his tongue .

■ VERB

begin

Yet as constraints on funding begin to bite a new dynamic is becoming apparent.

Charlea burst not into tears but began to bite her lip and soon broke out into gales of laughter.

Next came his three younger sisters whom he began to terrorise - biting , kicking and scratching them.

When his stepfather, Douglas Reynolds, intervened, Campbell began biting Reynolds' face, police said.

I had to paint the gashes as soon as possible so that rust would not begin to bite into Wavebreaker's long sleekness.

Once the constraints on local authority capital expenditure began to bite it cooperated with private housing development on inner-area sites.

This increase occurred after the 1996 Asylum and Immigration Act, which denied refugees access to social housing, began to bite .

start

Babies start to bite and chew about half-way through their first year.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

(a bit of) a mouthful

(it's) a bit thick

(just) that little bit better/easier etc

We have put together a few of the most popular itineraries to help make your choice that little bit easier.

a bit

'Are you coming?' 'Yes, in a bit .'

After a bit , Bill had started to tire of her company.

Do you mind looking after the kids for a bit while I go out?

Enrollment is down a bit from last year.

I'm feeling a bit better

I sat down, and after a bit , the phone rang.

I think I'll lie down for a bit .

I waited, and a bit later the phone went again -- it was Bill.

Oh, wait a bit , can't you?

Prices have dropped a bit in the last few days.

Wait a bit , I've nearly finished.

a bit

a bit

a bit of a lad

a bit of a sth

Got a bit of tidying Up to do.

Her desired outcome was a bit of money to help with major structural repairs.

People like to see a bit of bellowing in a king.

Saare remembers one student who did not do well academically and was a bit of a troublemaker.

That would be a bit of a lie.

Warren is from an upper middleclass Connecticut family; he's a bit of a snob.

What is needed, perhaps, is a bit of disgraceful degradation of the sort that nobody can ignore.

a bit of how's your father

a bit of hush

a bit of rough

At the moment it looks more like a bit of rough pasture ... full of dandelions and clover patches.

a bit of rough

At the moment it looks more like a bit of rough pasture ... full of dandelions and clover patches.

a bit of skirt

a bit of stuff/fluff/skirt

a fair size/amount/number/bit/distance etc

But a fair number of them went on to greater things.

It prefers a fair amount of nutritious detritus.

Scientists must proceed cautiously, moving ahead only with the assent of a fair number of their colleagues.

Thanks to the inherently leaky nature of the water industry, there is already a fair amount of information to go on.

That involved a fair amount of travel.

There was a fair amount going on.

They'd have a fair bit of tidying up to do before they left.

You may also be involved in a fair amount of travel.

a little bit

He was even maybe a little bit relieved, because immediately it was clear that Ernie was what she needed.

I prefer to talk a little bit.

I really just did it for a little bit, and then gave it up.

There was, I suspect, a little bit of Otago isolationism involved.

a wee bit

Don't you think her behavior is just a wee bit bizarre?

As for the holiday, I agree with you, it sounds a wee bit unlikely.

He is hapless, passive and maybe just a wee bit smug.

It is a wee bit disconcerting when you can hear yourself think in a pub these days.

Monica is a wee bit overweight.

Reason I ask, Mr Rasmussen says you seemed a wee bit tipsy.

There is no label on the bottle, it tastes a wee bit vinegary.

We have been lacking a wee bit of professionalism recently.

You might be just a wee bit too clever for your own good now.

a/one bit at a time

The text can be put on an overhead and revealed a bit at a time.

be a bit much

But maybe total understanding of everything is a bit much to ask of a tiny human mind.

But seeing the little fellow lying there in sauce, sauteed, was a bit much.

But to rise from the grave was a bit much even for Nixon.

be a bit much/be too much

be a bit of all right

bit by bit

Bit by bit, our apartment started to look like a home.

But then, slowly, bit by bit, year by year, I began to change my mind.

In therapy, we chip away at this, bit by bit.

Make a small cut and then try to pull the gall to pieces bit by bit.

So bit by bit you're being written into the programme and fed into the computer.

The experiment faltered bit by bit.

The information only came out bit by bit since she's still not easy in her mind about talking to us.

Thus, bit by bit, the child learns to string together more complicated sequences.

You can shop meal by meal, or bit by bit.

bit on the side

Her husband's reaction to Lowell's bit on the side had been subdued.

bite your tongue

Always ready to knock on wood, throw salt over my shoulder, bite my tongue , cross my fingers.

But they want a pink one, so Ralph takes out a pink one, bites his tongue .

He's not and would be wise to bite his tongue .

It's all very well telling some one to bite their tongue and not fight back.

Polly battled on, practically biting her tongue in half.

Tell them to bite their tongues .

Whatever the reason, Dauntless bit his tongue and resolved to put up with Cleo Sinister.

bite/snap sb's head off

A geek is a carnival performer who bites the heads off live chickens and snakes.

He had no right to bite the head off one of his staunchest friends.

I could have bitten her head off.

Just to bite their heads off.

Not two minutes in his company and she was biting his head off.

The gusts are becoming malevolent, snapping the heads off the waves like daisies.

This Katherine bites the heads off rag-dolls and threatens her sister Bianca with a pair of pinking shears.

You could trust him not to take the mickey, or to turn round and bite your head off.

do your bit

I've done my bit - now it's up to you.

We wanted to do our bit for the boys fighting in the war.

Don't you want to do your bit towards stamping it out?

Eva and several of the cadets from overseas were put in the West End brigade to do their bit .

Help is desperately needed - and rugby friends can do their bit .

I hope that you can all do your bit .

Let Africanized bees do their bit to breed better beekeepers in this country, in other words.

Nature did its bit as well.

Now I am not unpatriotic, and I want to do my bit in this great movement.

Stonehenge has gone, so I reckon I can do me bit of growing up at Skipton Hall.

every bit as good/important etc

Barbara was every bit as good as she sounded.

Here, the Fund runs many family projects that are less well-known but doing work that is every bit as important.

If you looked through a microscope you could see that they had cheekbones every bit as good as Hope Steadman's.

In terms of predicting and controlling the social environment, high technology can quite clearly be every bit as important as brute force.

It is for this reason that good balanced design is every bit as important as meticulous craftsmanship.

It takes no more than five minutes and tastes every bit as good at the oven-baked variety.

The explanation is every bit as important as the numbers!

every bit as important/bad/good etc

Barbara was every bit as good as she sounded.

Here, the Fund runs many family projects that are less well-known but doing work that is every bit as important.

It is for this reason that good balanced design is every bit as important as meticulous craftsmanship.

It takes no more than five minutes and tastes every bit as good at the oven-baked variety.

The explanation is every bit as important as the numbers!

The traffic was every bit as bad as had been predicted.

Things every bit as bad happen there, too.

To her horror it was every bit as bad as she'd feared, and possibly even a tiny bit worse.

get the bit between your teeth

it's (a little/bit) late in the day (to do sth)

not a bit/not one bit

not make a blind bit of difference

not take/pay a blind bit of notice

For six years, the Government have not taken a blind bit of notice of the Audit Commission's report.

not the least/not in the least/not the least bit

once bitten, twice shy

quite a bit

He owes me quite a bit of money.

Jim has improved quite a bit since he came home from the hospital.

She's quite a bit shorter than I remembered.

She said she learned quite a bit .

The estimates were a fair bit higher than what the final figure was.

We've had quite a bit of snow this year so far.

Alongside me was Sam Ratcliffe who, at the tender age of sixteen, had already had quite a bit of publicity.

But it's already created quite a bit of controversy.

It gives me hours of pleasurable reading and quite a bit of envious longing for things I can not afford.

My grandson was over today and they played together quite a bit .

That had generated quite a bit of business.

The most noticeable change was in my brother, who had grown quite a bit and was now a third-grader.

There's quite a bit of noise coming from the kitchens.

There was quite a bit of war in the delta, so, some-times, sure.

quite a lot/bit/few

A better day today, Miss Lavant wrote in her diary, quite a bit of sunshine.

By no means, Watson; even now quite a few scientists continue to doubt.

I lived quite a lot of my early childhood at the Thompsons' house behind a shop on Harehills Parade.

Obviously, you have to wear quite a lot of protective clothing to minimise the risk of getting injured.

Over 296 pages, Fallows cites quite a few.

The man looks prosperous, like quite a few men.

There's quite a bit of noise coming from the kitchens.

There has been quite a lot of talk recently about adding enzymes to help the carp digest our sophisticated carp baits.

sb's bark is worse than their bite

take a bit of doing/explaining etc

It took a bit of doing - for instance, the disposal site had to check out 100 percent.

It took a bit of explaining.

That's going to take a bit of explaining.

the hair of the dog (that bit you)

with (any) luck/with a bit of luck

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

Barry bit the corner of the packet to open it.

Don't worry about the dog - he won't bite .

Even a friendly dog will bite if it's scared.

I sometimes bite my fingernails when I'm nervous.

On just the second day of the trip, I was bitten on the leg by a snake.

She fought off her attacker, scratching and biting him.

She was bitten by a rattlesnake.

Taryn, stop biting your fingernails!

The company withdraws its new products quickly if consumers fail to bite .

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

A shell tore through his back, shattering his shoulder and collarbone and biting into his spine.

Closed basins as deep as 135 feet were bitten out of the underlying basalt.

Cook noodles in medium pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite .

It chews and bites the venom into its victims, generally small mammals and birds.

Not two minutes in his company and she was biting his head off.

The workers were not scratched or bitten and have not been placed under quarantine.

This Katherine bites the heads off rag-dolls and threatens her sister Bianca with a pair of pinking shears.

When he got to his feet again McAteer grabbed him and bit half his ear off.

II. noun

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADJECTIVE

big

I took a big bite , put it back on the table and left it to rot throughout the night.

But coyotes are taking the biggest bite out of sheep farming in Northern California.

Voice over Unlike Jackie, Bouncer's bark was probably bigger than his bite .

Buying school supplies, she said, took a big bite out of her allowance.

Profits of the Bisto-to-Mr-Kipling-cakes giant have nose-dived from £150m to just over £92m with big bites taken out of both bread and cakes.

Then he takes a big bite of it.

If that is the case you need to take bigger bites or steps.

■ NOUN

bug

They sleep six to a bed and wake up to the fiery sting of bug bites .

mark

But small or not, it appears to have left a nasty bite mark on her arm.

I examined closely where the squirrel had bitten the branches, and found the bite marks in the thin bark.

Broadly speaking, children under four are not sensitised and show no bite mark .

I found these seemingly senseless bite marks by the hundreds.

On 11 May 1991 he was taken to hospital suffering from 18 bruises and a bite mark .

He left a dozen ugly bite marks on her back.

mosquito

She found a spot on Nowak's calf that was red and swollen like a severe mosquito bite .

The mosquito bite on his leg had swollen into a scarlet hillock.

snake

Human deaths from snake bites are caused mainly by accident.

In his magazine, he published formulas for animal manures and prescriptions for the cure of snake bites and malaria.

Opposite A prairie rattler. Snake bites cause the death of over 100,000 people every year.

I sent him back to the Patel farm with his snake bite and his elaborate complaints.

■ VERB

take

This oarsman says it took a bite out of his blade.

Already emaciated, he would take only occasional bites of food and seemed to shake violently when he drank fluids.

If there was no numbing and if the item was reasonably palatable, then they'd take another small bite and swallow.

They ate at whim, taking a bite here, a bite there.

I took a bite out of the sandwich.

But coyotes are taking the biggest bite out of sheep farming in Northern California.

You know, the one that takes a healthy bite from your paycheck day after day, year after year?

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

(a bit of) a mouthful

(it's) a bit thick

(just) that little bit better/easier etc

We have put together a few of the most popular itineraries to help make your choice that little bit easier.

a bit

'Are you coming?' 'Yes, in a bit .'

After a bit , Bill had started to tire of her company.

Do you mind looking after the kids for a bit while I go out?

Enrollment is down a bit from last year.

I'm feeling a bit better

I sat down, and after a bit , the phone rang.

I think I'll lie down for a bit .

I waited, and a bit later the phone went again -- it was Bill.

Oh, wait a bit , can't you?

Prices have dropped a bit in the last few days.

Wait a bit , I've nearly finished.

a bit

a bit

a bit of a lad

a bit of a sth

Got a bit of tidying Up to do.

Her desired outcome was a bit of money to help with major structural repairs.

People like to see a bit of bellowing in a king.

Saare remembers one student who did not do well academically and was a bit of a troublemaker.

That would be a bit of a lie.

Warren is from an upper middleclass Connecticut family; he's a bit of a snob.

What is needed, perhaps, is a bit of disgraceful degradation of the sort that nobody can ignore.

a bit of how's your father

a bit of hush

a bit of rough

At the moment it looks more like a bit of rough pasture ... full of dandelions and clover patches.

a bit of rough

At the moment it looks more like a bit of rough pasture ... full of dandelions and clover patches.

a bit of skirt

a bit of stuff/fluff/skirt

a fair size/amount/number/bit/distance etc

But a fair number of them went on to greater things.

It prefers a fair amount of nutritious detritus.

Scientists must proceed cautiously, moving ahead only with the assent of a fair number of their colleagues.

Thanks to the inherently leaky nature of the water industry, there is already a fair amount of information to go on.

That involved a fair amount of travel.

There was a fair amount going on.

They'd have a fair bit of tidying up to do before they left.

You may also be involved in a fair amount of travel.

a little bit

He was even maybe a little bit relieved, because immediately it was clear that Ernie was what she needed.

I prefer to talk a little bit.

I really just did it for a little bit, and then gave it up.

There was, I suspect, a little bit of Otago isolationism involved.

a wee bit

Don't you think her behavior is just a wee bit bizarre?

As for the holiday, I agree with you, it sounds a wee bit unlikely.

He is hapless, passive and maybe just a wee bit smug.

It is a wee bit disconcerting when you can hear yourself think in a pub these days.

Monica is a wee bit overweight.

Reason I ask, Mr Rasmussen says you seemed a wee bit tipsy.

There is no label on the bottle, it tastes a wee bit vinegary.

We have been lacking a wee bit of professionalism recently.

You might be just a wee bit too clever for your own good now.

a/one bit at a time

The text can be put on an overhead and revealed a bit at a time.

be a bit much

But maybe total understanding of everything is a bit much to ask of a tiny human mind.

But seeing the little fellow lying there in sauce, sauteed, was a bit much.

But to rise from the grave was a bit much even for Nixon.

be a bit much/be too much

be a bit of all right

be champing at the bit

David is champing at the bit.

Within three months Eva was champing at the bit.

bit by bit

Bit by bit, our apartment started to look like a home.

But then, slowly, bit by bit, year by year, I began to change my mind.

In therapy, we chip away at this, bit by bit.

Make a small cut and then try to pull the gall to pieces bit by bit.

So bit by bit you're being written into the programme and fed into the computer.

The experiment faltered bit by bit.

The information only came out bit by bit since she's still not easy in her mind about talking to us.

Thus, bit by bit, the child learns to string together more complicated sequences.

You can shop meal by meal, or bit by bit.

bit on the side

Her husband's reaction to Lowell's bit on the side had been subdued.

bite your tongue

Always ready to knock on wood, throw salt over my shoulder, bite my tongue , cross my fingers.

But they want a pink one, so Ralph takes out a pink one, bites his tongue .

He's not and would be wise to bite his tongue .

It's all very well telling some one to bite their tongue and not fight back.

Polly battled on, practically biting her tongue in half.

Tell them to bite their tongues .

Whatever the reason, Dauntless bit his tongue and resolved to put up with Cleo Sinister.

bite/snap sb's head off

A geek is a carnival performer who bites the heads off live chickens and snakes.

He had no right to bite the head off one of his staunchest friends.

I could have bitten her head off.

Just to bite their heads off.

Not two minutes in his company and she was biting his head off.

The gusts are becoming malevolent, snapping the heads off the waves like daisies.

This Katherine bites the heads off rag-dolls and threatens her sister Bianca with a pair of pinking shears.

You could trust him not to take the mickey, or to turn round and bite your head off.

do your bit

I've done my bit - now it's up to you.

We wanted to do our bit for the boys fighting in the war.

Don't you want to do your bit towards stamping it out?

Eva and several of the cadets from overseas were put in the West End brigade to do their bit .

Help is desperately needed - and rugby friends can do their bit .

I hope that you can all do your bit .

Let Africanized bees do their bit to breed better beekeepers in this country, in other words.

Nature did its bit as well.

Now I am not unpatriotic, and I want to do my bit in this great movement.

Stonehenge has gone, so I reckon I can do me bit of growing up at Skipton Hall.

every bit as good/important etc

Barbara was every bit as good as she sounded.

Here, the Fund runs many family projects that are less well-known but doing work that is every bit as important.

If you looked through a microscope you could see that they had cheekbones every bit as good as Hope Steadman's.

In terms of predicting and controlling the social environment, high technology can quite clearly be every bit as important as brute force.

It is for this reason that good balanced design is every bit as important as meticulous craftsmanship.

It takes no more than five minutes and tastes every bit as good at the oven-baked variety.

The explanation is every bit as important as the numbers!

every bit as important/bad/good etc

Barbara was every bit as good as she sounded.

Here, the Fund runs many family projects that are less well-known but doing work that is every bit as important.

It is for this reason that good balanced design is every bit as important as meticulous craftsmanship.

It takes no more than five minutes and tastes every bit as good at the oven-baked variety.

The explanation is every bit as important as the numbers!

The traffic was every bit as bad as had been predicted.

Things every bit as bad happen there, too.

To her horror it was every bit as bad as she'd feared, and possibly even a tiny bit worse.

get the bit between your teeth

it's (a little/bit) late in the day (to do sth)

not a bit/not one bit

not make a blind bit of difference

not take/pay a blind bit of notice

For six years, the Government have not taken a blind bit of notice of the Audit Commission's report.

not the least/not in the least/not the least bit

once bitten, twice shy

quite a bit

He owes me quite a bit of money.

Jim has improved quite a bit since he came home from the hospital.

She's quite a bit shorter than I remembered.

She said she learned quite a bit .

The estimates were a fair bit higher than what the final figure was.

We've had quite a bit of snow this year so far.

Alongside me was Sam Ratcliffe who, at the tender age of sixteen, had already had quite a bit of publicity.

But it's already created quite a bit of controversy.

It gives me hours of pleasurable reading and quite a bit of envious longing for things I can not afford.

My grandson was over today and they played together quite a bit .

That had generated quite a bit of business.

The most noticeable change was in my brother, who had grown quite a bit and was now a third-grader.

There's quite a bit of noise coming from the kitchens.

There was quite a bit of war in the delta, so, some-times, sure.

quite a lot/bit/few

A better day today, Miss Lavant wrote in her diary, quite a bit of sunshine.

By no means, Watson; even now quite a few scientists continue to doubt.

I lived quite a lot of my early childhood at the Thompsons' house behind a shop on Harehills Parade.

Obviously, you have to wear quite a lot of protective clothing to minimise the risk of getting injured.

Over 296 pages, Fallows cites quite a few.

The man looks prosperous, like quite a few men.

There's quite a bit of noise coming from the kitchens.

There has been quite a lot of talk recently about adding enzymes to help the carp digest our sophisticated carp baits.

sb's bark is worse than their bite

take a bit of doing/explaining etc

It took a bit of doing - for instance, the disposal site had to check out 100 percent.

It took a bit of explaining.

That's going to take a bit of explaining.

the hair of the dog (that bit you)

with (any) luck/with a bit of luck

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

a protest song with bite and wit

After two bites I realised the apple was rotten.

Animal bites should be treated immediately.

Sometimes I sit for hours and never get a bite .

The barbecue sauce lacked heat and bite .

The state will be taking a bite out of money earned from local traffic tickets

There's just time for a quick bite to eat before the film begins.

We'll have a bite then go into town.

We woke up to find ourselves covered in mosquito bites.

You can get Lyme disease from a tick bite .

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

Despite appearances, its bark is definitely worse than its bite .

He now takes bites from his lunch between smokes.

His bee bite , he noticed, was finally gone.

One bite of coffee cake that tasted like a syrupy old sponge and they knew better the next time.

Press harder and it becomes obvious that front-end bite and turn-in are actually very good.

Profits of the Bisto-to-Mr-Kipling-cakes giant have nose-dived from £150m to just over £92m with big bites taken out of both bread and cakes.

Would he care to stay on for a bite to eat?

Longman DOCE5 Extras English vocabulary.      Дополнительный английский словарь Longman DOCE5.