Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US) to die.

2012

M. Lacher On the Bro’d 162: This crazy U-turn came up and I thought we were all gonna bite it.

see sense 11 above.

1. see sense 2 above.

2. see sense 11 above.

to accomplish a major theft.

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Bite the blow, c. accomplish’d the Theft, plaied the Cheat, or done the Feat: You have Bit a great Blow, c. you have Robb’d some body of a great deal, or to a considerable value.
1719		A. Smith Lives of Most Notorious Highway-men, etc. (1926) II.
1725		New Canting Dict.
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: blow (cant) he has bit the blow, i.e. he has stolen the goods.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

(Aus.) subjected to as much begging and cadging as a place and its population will tolerate.

1973

(con. 1930s) F. Huelin ‘Keep Moving’ 46: Eventually we decided that Bendigo was ‘bitten out’.

a swindler, a confidence trickster.

1719

in D’Urfey Pills to Purge Melancholy II 218: Fortune-Biters, / Hags, Bum-fighters.

(Aus.) demanding money, either as payments, loans or bribes.

1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 28/2: Bite, on the. 1. Begging or borrowing small sums with no intention of repayment. 2. Engaged in petty extortion of sums from proprietors of shady establishments without rendering oneself liable to legal qualification as an extortionist or blackmailer.
1953		K. Tennant Joyful Condemned 232: I’ve got coves on the bite all the time.

1. a wretched, miserable person; thus sheep-biting.

1589		Nashe Death and Buriall of Martin Mar-Prelate in Works I (1883–4) 153: And the Captaine Cuffe of this bouncing band, was the old Sheepbiter, the auncient Gentleman this our young masters Father.
1593		G. Harvey Pierce’s Supererogation 132: Knaues are backbiters; whores bellybiters; and both sheepbiters.
1602		J. Cooke How A Man May Choose A Good Wife From A Bad Act II: When didst thou see the starueling School-maister? That Rat, that Shrimp, that Spindle-shank, that Wren, that sheep-biter, that leane chittiface.
1613		Middleton Chaste Maid in Cheapside II ii: Sheep-biting Mungrels, Hand-basket Freebooters.
1616		Webster Duchess of Malfi V ii: I’ll crawl after like a sheep-biter.
1663		Head Hic et Ubique V vi: The baseness and unworthiness of my Husband’s carriage (that hangs down his Head like a Sheep-biter) were enough to distract any one.
1697		Female Wits II i: Well, sheep-biters, begin!
1725		New Canting Dict. n.p.: Sheep-biter, a poor, sorry, sneaking, ill-lookt Fellow.
1772		Bridges Burlesque Homer (3rd edn) 296: Those damn’d copper-nos’d sheep-biters.
1797		Bridges Burlesque Homer (4th edn) II 39: Those damn’d copper-nos’d sheep-biters.
1978		Age (Melbourne) 13 Apr. 2/2: They turn pages at random, discovering that sheep-biter is a shifty, sneaking or thieving fellow and also one whoring after women.

2. a womanizer; thus sheep-biting [plays on mutton n. (1b)].

1611		Chapman May-Day III i: I wish all such old sheep-biters might always dip their fingers in such sauce to their mutton.
1632		R. Brome Covent-Garden Weeded IV i: Nay, you slave, we’ll mark you for a Sheep-biter.
1706		[T. Betterton] Amorous Widow 5: How soon the poor Fellow was tir’d [i.e. of sex with an older lover] too! How like a Sheep-biter he look’d after the first Two Months!
1719		in D’Urfey Pills to Purge Melancholy II 345: You that are plying for Sheepbiters here, And hope to sell your Mutton Loyns so dear.
1747		Garrick Miss in her Teens II i: As for you, dear Husband, show your manhood in a proper place and you need not fear these sheep-biters.
1780		T. Gray Candidate 1: Lord! Sister says Physic to Law, I declare Such a sheep-biting look, [...] his eyes are so lewd!
1978		see sense 1.

3. a sheep-stealer.

1733		Laugh and Be Fat 142: On a Wool-Comber, who was hang’d for Sheep-Stealing. Beneath this Gallows lies Tom Kemp, / Who’d liv’d by Wool, and dy’d by Hemp; / The Fleece would not suffice the Glutton, / But with it he must steal the Mutton; / Had he but work’d, and liv’d uprighter, / He’d ne’er been hang’d for a Sheep-biter.
1830		Nottingham Rev. 26 Mar. 4/4: A Sheep-Biter — Ann Lyon was charged [...] with feraudulently obtaining three pounds of mutton chops.

a horse-thief.

1709

N. Ward Compleat and Humorous Account of Remarkable Clubs (1756) 294: Snaffle Biters [...] who make it their principal Business to steal Horses, talk what rare Prads and Gallopers they had met with in their Time.

what’s the matter? what’s the problem?

1890		Dakota Farmers’ Leader (Canton, SD) 19 Dec. 3/3: Say, Tom, a republican congress passed the pauper pension bill and pigeon-holed the service pension bill. What’s biting you?
1897		Florence Trib. (AZ) 18 Dec. 1/3: I want to know what’s biting you [...] quit chewing the rag and spit it out.
1909		Salt Lake Herald-Republican (UT) 5 Dec. 42: She turned to Roberts. ‘First off, what’s biting you?’.
1912		Van Loan ‘Little Sunset’ in Ten-Thousand-Dollar Arm 98: What’s biting you? Tryin’ to stand ’em up for more money?
1917		F. Packard Adventures of Jimmie Dale (1918) II xi: ‘Well, wot’s bitin’ youse?’ inquired the Magpie ironically.
1918		‘Max Brand’ ‘Above the Law’ in Coll. Stories (1994) 40: What’s bitin’ you?
1920		F. Packard White Moll 176: Wot’s bitin’ youse, Nan?
1927		Smith’s Wkly 20 Aug. 11/1: Slanguage. [...] Construct sentences including the following phrases: [...] ‘Wot’s bitin’ you?’.
1932		(con. WWI) L. Mann Flesh in Armour 140: ‘Well, what’s biting you?’.
1934		O. Strange Sudden 32: ’Lo, Luce, what’s bitin’ yu?
1938		X. Herbert Capricornia (1939) 369: ‘Why — what’s bitin’ you?’ asked Frank, a trifle impatiently.
1946		D. Stivens Courtship of Uncle Henry 47: What the hell’s biting you?
c.1950		K. Howard Small Time Crooks 85: Well! What’s bitin’ you?
1953		K. Tennant Joyful Condemned 37: Now, what’s biting you, Mort?
1959		E. De Roo Go, Man, Go! 42: ‘What’s itchin’ ya?’ Gil demanded.
1970		A. Sillitoe Start in Life (1979) 256: What’s biting you, then?
1980		M. Bail Homesickness (1999) 101: What’s bitten you?
1999		C. Dexter Remorseful Day (2000) 74: So what’s biting you?

hunger, appetite.

1909

J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era.

a quarrel.

1930

Eve. Teleg. 12 Feb. 6/5: The conversation [...] is not likely to end in a ‘bite-up’ (quarrel).

(US gay) the anal sphincter in the context of intercourse.

1972

(ref. to late 1950s) B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 19: biting dog (late ’50s, fr pros sl) the anal sphincter muscle as it contracts during anal intercourse.

see separate entry.

(US gay) to lie on one’s stomach.

1964

Lavender Lex. n.p.: bite feathers:- To lie on one’s stomach.

1. to die.

1977		(con. 1969) M. Herr Dispatches 56: He who bites it this day is safe from the next.
1983		(con. 1970) S. Wright Meditations in Green (1985) 201: Guy flies two hundred missions without a scratch [...] bites it on the ground in his own bed. What irony.
1990		J. Wambaugh Golden Orange (1991) 348: I looked down the barrel more than once. I truly wanted to bite it. Now maybe I wanna live.
2006		J. Ridley What Fire Cannot Burn 88: She didn’t care about skydiving one time before she bit it.
2012		G. Pelecanos (con. 1972) What It Was 123: Jones has a big set of nuts [...] but he’s gonna bite it.

2. to trip, to fall.

2002

Teen Lingo: The Source for Youth Ministry 🌐 bite it v. To trip or fall down, usually hurting oneself. ‘Did you see Bobby bite it when he was trying to hop that rail?’.

(US) to restrain oneself, to stop talking.

1844		‘Jonathan Slick’ High Life in N.Y. II 48: I had to bite off short, for a chap come aboard the sloop with Captin Doolittle.
1899–1900		C.L. Cullen Tales of the Ex-Tanks 381: ‘Say, bite it off for a minute,’ interrupted Ex-Tank No. 7.
1908		D.G. Phillips Susan Lenox II 121: ‘Oh, bite it off!’ cried the darker of the two men.
1911		L.J. Vance Cynthia 172: ‘Ah, bite that off!’ Rhode interrupted impatiently [DA].
1971		Current Sl. VI 1: Bite it, v. To be quiet.
1980		Eble Campus Sl. Spring 1: bite off – leave me alone!

(US) to pause before making too precipitate a decision.

1970

in DARE.

to become very drunk.

1650		Eighth Liberal Science n.p.: No man must call a Good-fellow Drunkard [...] But if at any time they spie that defect in another, they may without any forfeit or just exceptions taken, say, He is Foxt, He is Flaw’d, He is Fluster’d, He is Suttle, Cupshot, Cut in the Leg or Back, He hath seen the French King, He hath swallowed an Hair or a Taven-Token, he hath whipt the Cat, He hath been at the Scriveners and learned to make Indentures, He hath bit his Grannam, or is bit by a Barn Weasel.
1654		Mercurius Fumigosus 23 1–8 Nov. 197: She had the same Night bitt her Grannam, and commited powltry with the Gentle-Craft.
1674		Head Canting Academy (2nd edn) n.p.: No man ought to call a Good-fellow a Drunkard; but [...] he may without a forfeit say he [...] hath bit his Grannam.
c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew.
1700		‘The Art of Drinking’ in Wit’s Cabinet 138: He has bit his Grandam.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.

(drugs) to smoke marijuana.

1959		J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore 17: Bite one’s lips on bambalachas – To find succor in the smoke of blue sage (hashishi) cigarettes.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 3: Bite one’s lips — To smoke marijuana.

(US gay) for one homosexual man to use mutually recognizable coded gestures to indicate his interest to another.

1965		Guild Dict. Homosexual Terms 4: biting their nails (v., n.): Coded gestures used by homosexuals in public places signifying to other homosexuals that they are interested in meeting them.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular.

to drink heavily.

1827		Pierce Egan’s Life in London 25 Mar. 901/2: The ‘would be Beak, alias Trappy Dick,’ in company with the Spitalfields-body-snatcher, and the beardless boy, called to bite their names at the Soup-house, on their return home from the race.
1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict. 5: Biting your name in – taking a large draught, drinking greedily.
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open.
1851		Bell’s Life in Sydney 5 July 4/2: Chaffing Joe boasted that ho could slang a cab-man into high-strikes before the waterman could bite his name in a pot of hot purl.

to make a gesture of contempt or of threat.

1595		Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet I i: I will bite my thumb at them; which is a disgrace to them if they bear it.
1630		T. Randolph Muses’ Looking-Glass III iii: Daggs and Pistolls! To bite his thumb at me! Weare I a sword to see men bite their thumbs? Rapiers and Daggers!
[1678		Rules of Civility (trans. from French) 44: ’Tis no less disrespectful to bite the nail of your thumb, by way of scorn and disdain, and drawing your nail from between your teeth, to tell them you value not this what they can do [N]].
1822		R. Nares Gloss. (1888) I 81: To bite the thumb at a person. This was an insult. The thumb in this action represented a fig, and the whole was equivalent to a fig for you or the fico.
1830		N. Ames Mariner’s Sketches 103: All nations who shall dare to ‘bite their thumb’ at the said sailors.
1858		A. Mayhew Paved with Gold 115: Gentlemen [...] will fall to and fight on the slightest pretext, whether it be the ‘bite of a thumb at them,’ or the using of disrespectful expressions, or a too vigorous push with the shoulder.
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 17 Jan. 12/4: The King of Siam has 263 children, and he is under thirty years of age. Well, he needn’t ‘bite his thumb at us’.
1908		‘O. Henry’ ‘A Summer Masquerade’ in Gentle Grafter (1915) 90: How is it that you seem to be biting your thumb at good luck?

to be in reduced circumstances, to be impoverished.

c.1390		J. Gower Confessio Amantis (1957) VI 1 929: And as who seith, upon lie bridel I chiewe .
1552		Latimer Works II (1845) 57: We have much misery here in this world, though it goeth hard with us, though we must bite on the bridle, yet for all that we must be content.
1605		Chapman & Jonson Eastward Ho! IV ii: They are like to bite o’ the bridle [i.e. to fast].
1642		D. Rogers Matrimoniall Honour 300: Be quiet, my soule, bite not upon the bridle.
1670		J. Ray Proverbs 164: To bite upon the bridle. That is, to fare hardly, to be cut short, or suffer want.
c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: To bite on the bit; to be pinched, or reduced to hard Meat, a scanty or sorry sort of Living.
1719		A. Smith Lives of Most Notorious Highway-men, etc. (1926) II.
1725		New Canting Dict. n.p.: To bite on the Bit; to be pinched, or reduced to hard Meat, a scanty or sorry sort of Living.
1737		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.
1749		Smollett (trans.) Adventures of Gil Blas IV 248: The minister was going to retire into his closet, to bite upon the bridle at liberty.
1771		Foote Maid of Bath in Works (1799) II 221: Folks that are idle, / May live to bite the bridle.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: To bite on the bridle: to be pinched or reduced to difficulties.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

(US) to suffer in silence.

[1691		N. Ward ‘The Poet’s Ramble after Riches’ in Writings (1704) 10: Then up starts he in mighty Anger, / And Swore, but that I was a Stranger, / Or else he further wou’d contend on’t, / Then bit his nails, and there’s an end on’t].
1943		E. Hemingway letter 31 Aug. in Baker Sel. Letters (1981) 550: Everybody is going to have to bite on the old nail in this case.

see under eat shit v. (3)

(US) to take revenge on an individual, to harm, cause problems (for).

2017		R. Friedman Street Warrior 14: I thought it wise to give as many yes and no answers as possible, thinking whatever I say can come back to bite me in the ass.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 135: ‘This bullshit caper [...] could bite us on the ass’.

see under crank n.³

see under ear n.¹

see chew someone’s ear v. (1)

see under name n.

to attack verbally.

1873		R. Broughton Nancy II 49: I will not say what I was going to say [...] I shall only get my nose bitten off if I do.
1997		P. Theroux Kowloon Tong 55: You made it plain as day you didn’t want to know. But why bite his nose off like that?

1. (US) to be very unsatisfactory; esp. as imper. excl. of dismissal, disapproval or contempt.

1967–8		Baker et al. CUSS 75: Bite the bag: Expeleteive [sic] of disapproval or contempt.
1973		L. Bangs in Psychotic Reactions (1988) 144: I went and told second-liners Brownsville Station what I was going to do, and they laughed at me! Well, bite the bag, peons! I was in the majors now.
1987		G.A. Fine With the Boys 171: Boys may say to their friends, rivals, and enemies [...] ‘bite my bag’.
2000		Eric Raymond Jargon File Version 4.2.3 🌐 ‘bite the bag’ vi. To fail in some manner. ‘The computer keeps crashing every five minutes.‘ ‘Yes, the disk controller is really biting the bag.’ The original loading of these terms was almost undoubtedly obscene, possibly referring to the scrotum [...], but in their current usage they have become almost completely sanitized.

2. (US campus) to be quiet, usu. as imper.

1971

Current Sl. VI.

see under big one n.

see under bone n.¹

1. to suffer in silence.

1898		H. Macilwaine Dinkinbar 79: I’ve got to bite on the bullet.
1915		Wodehouse Psmith Journalist (1993) 343: He did not repine. He bit the bullet. His eyes closed.
1942		A. Christie Body in the Library (1959) 83: There was nothing for it but to bite on the bullet.
1976		J. Braine Waiting for Sheila (1977) 102: You just had to bite the bullet, get on or go under.
1983		R. Price Breaks 423: You’ll just have to bite the bullet.
1999		Guardian Weekend 3 July 51: Time for me to bite the bullet. Hoping for an anaesthetic first, though.

2. to do what is necessary, however unappealing.

1910		Wodehouse Psmith in the City (1993) 157: Be a man. Bite the bullet. The first keen pang will pass.
1923		Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves 19: Brace up and bite the bullet.
1934		Wodehouse Right Ho, Jeeves 261: We Woosters can bite the bullet. I nodded moodily and spread another slab of omelette.
1969		Time 14 Feb. 18: He decreed that it was ‘time to bite the bullet’ and end political appointment of postmasters and rural mail carriers.
1970		Times 9 Apr. 8: The former film star added that college administrators should be willing to to ‘bite the bullet’and stand up to demonstrators.
1983		R. Price Breaks 32: Maybe I should have bitten the bullet and gone to St. John’s.
1993		Tarantino & Avery Pulp Fiction [film script] 56: Bite the fuckin’ bullet, take ’er to a hospital.
2000		Indep. Rev. 27 Mar. 9: So I bit the bullet, bought a cart full of parts and built my own [...] computer.
2016		V. McDermid Out of Bounds (2017) 112: Tomorrow she’s bite the bullet and sort out some flyers.
2017		T. Spicer Good Girl Stripped Bare 117: After a year renting our ‘roach palace’ [...] Matt and I bite the bullet and buy a semi in Rozelle.

see under dust n.

see under banana n.

to injure a benefactor, to act ungratefully.

1911		G. Bronson-Howard Enemy to Society 197: Don’t you know they always bite the hand that feeds them and lick the one that beats them down?
1931		Ade Old-Time Saloon 144: A consistent policy was to ‘fix’ the ‘harness bull’ on the beat, the theory being that any policeman who was a square guy would not bite the hand that was feeding him.
1962		R. Hauser Homosexual Society 91: After being their ‘darling’ you become a nasty bit of work, ‘biting the hand that fed you’.

see under peter n.³

see under roger n.³

to be third-rate.

1983

S. King Christine 93: That place bites the root anyway.

see under draw a/the wiper under wiper n.

(US) an anxiety-provoking situation, esp. a close contest.

1978		Vancouver Sun 15 July A4: Here was a real nail-biter—the first major contract to be negotiated since wage controls were lifted [HDAS].
1983		(con. c.1944) Kaplan & Smith One Last Look 85: It was, as one pilot said, ‘a real nail-biter’.
1999		Guardian 23 Feb. 🌐 Highlights of last weekend’s nail-biters involving the Old Firm.
2000		Guardian 16 May 🌐 Plot-wise, it is a fairly traditional psychological nail-biter.

(US) the amount of tax one has to pay on a sum of money or salary cheque.

1954		Sun (Baltimore) 26 Jan. (B edn) 1/4: The Iowa senator called for...legislation by Congress to put a tax bite on foreign coffee traders operating in this country .
2003		Money at CNN.com 21 Nov. 🌐 Want to reduce Uncle Sam’s tax bite? You’ll do much better if you start planning before Dec. 31.

(US campus) an expression of commiseration.

1981		Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 1: that bites! – exclamation that means that is an unfortunate occurence.
1996		Eble Campus Sl. Sept. 1: that bites – expression of displeasure or commiseration with someone in trouble.
1996		Eble Sl. and Sociability 101: [...] that bites, that bites the big one, you know it, and you’re hating it are various ways of expressing commiseration in the face of misfortune.
2002		Teen Lingo: The Source for Youth Ministry 🌐 that bites A derogatory phrase exclaimed when the situation is not a good one. A phrase uttered when possibly unfair or unfavored circumstances are taking place.

see separate entry.

(US) an excl. of aggressive dismissal.

1949		J.G. Cozzens Guard of Honour 427: ‘Bite it!’ Sergeant Pellerino said.
1957		F. Kohner Gidget 110: ‘Bite it,’ I said—and headed for the surfline.
1986		H. Zeybel First Ace 152: Bite it [HDAS].

(US campus) a general derog./dismissive excl.

1963		(con. WWII) J. Ross Dead Are Mine 134: Bite me in the ass, Stein [HDAS].
1987		G.A. Fine With the Boys 177: The insult category consisted of [...] : gaywad, bite me, doofy, dork, mutt.
1989		P. Munro Sl. U. 37: After Joe told Michelle that he wanted to see other girls, all she said was, ‘Bite me!’.
1991		M. Myers et al. Wayne’s World [film script] benjamin: As I explained earlier, we own the show. wayne: Ah, bite me!
1997–2001		Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 bite me 1. a command, similar to ‘Fuck off!’ (i.e. ‘Leave me alone!’ ‘Go away!’ etc.) Note: not considered vulgar but usually considered inappropriate in more formal settings.
2002		C. Brookmyre Sacred Art of Stealing 375: ‘Oh yeah, and before that we’ve got to steal a statue for him, too’ ‘Pendejo’ ‘Bite me.’.
2013		T. Robinson Hard Bounce [ebook] ‘Going clam digging?’ I asked. ‘Bite me’.

(US) an excl. of dismissal.

1988		Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 1: bite moose – a mild equivalent of ‘go to hell’.
1993		Lerner et al. Dict. of Today’s Words.

(US teen) an excl. of dismissal, ‘go to hell!’.

1978		R. De Christoforo Grease 117: Ehey, Kenick, make ice!
2002		‘Valley Girls’ on Paranoiafanzine 🌐 A Good Put-Down: Oh Yeah? Well, bite the ice, Melvin!

see under weenie n.¹

(US) a general derog. excl.

1986

Roxanne Shante [title] Bite This!

see under bum n.¹