bate
/beɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.76 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To waste away.
verb
To deprive of.
Example Sentences
- "Ah, left ſome Thorn ſhoul'd pierce thy tender Foot, / Or thou ſhoul'dſt fall in flying my purſuit! / To ſharp uneven Ways thy ſteps decline; / Abate thy Speed, and I will bate of mine."
- "[…] and to his dying day he bated his breath a little when he told the story of the stroke with the willow wand."
- "Also about Autumne bate the earth from about the roots of Olives, and lay them bare, but in stead thereof put good mucke thereto."
- "Nay, if he be of a proud humour, […] he will not Bate an Ace of abſolute certainty, but however doubtful or improbable the thing is, coming f[r]om him it muſt go for an indiſputable truth."
- "Bate the King, and be he fleſh and blood, / He lyes that ſaies it, thy mother at fifteen / Was black and ſinful to her."
- "Bate (I beſeech you) widdow Dido."
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English baten (“to abate”), an apheretic form of abaten, from Old French abatre (“to knock down”).