Bait vs Motive - What's the difference?
bait | motive | Related terms |
Any substance, especially food, used in catching fish, or other animals, by alluring them to a hook, snare, trap, or net.
Food containing poison or a harmful additive to kill animals that are pests.
Anything which allures; a lure; enticement; temptation.
A portion of food or drink, as a refreshment taken on a journey; also, a stop for rest and refreshment.
A light or hasty luncheon.
To attract with bait; to entice.
To affix bait to a trap or a fishing hook or fishing line.
* Washington Irving
To set dogs on (an animal etc.) to bite or worry; to attack with dogs, especially for sport.
:to bait''' a bear with dogs; to '''bait a bull
To intentionally annoy, torment, or threaten by constant rebukes or threats; to harass.
To feed and water (a horse or other animal), especially during a journey.
*, Bk.V, Ch.ix:
*:And than they com into a lowe medow that was full of swete floures, and there thes noble knyghtes bayted her horses.
Of a horse or other animal: to take food, especially during a journey.
*, II.22:
*:King Cyrus , that he might more speedily receave news from al parts of his Empire (which was of exceeding great length), would needs have it tried how far a horse could in a day goe outright without baiting , at which distance he caused stations to be set up, and men to have fresh horses ready for al such as came to him.
To stop to take a portion of food and drink for refreshment during a journey.
*Milton
*:Evil news rides post, while good news baits .
*Evelyn
*:My lord's coach conveyed me to Bury, and thence baiting at Newmarket.
(obsolete) To flap the wings; to flutter as if to fly; or to hover, as a hawk when she stoops to her prey.
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) An idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting.
*, III.2.1.ii:
*:there's something in a woman beyond all human delight; a magnetic virtue, a charming quality, an occult and powerful motive .
An incentive to act in a particular way; a reason or emotion that makes one want to do something; anything that prompts a choice of action.
* 1947 , (Malcolm Lowry), Under the Volcano :
(obsolete, rare) A limb or other bodily organ that can move.
(legal) Something which causes someone to want to commit a crime; a reason for criminal behaviour.
* {{quote-book, year=1931, author=
, chapter=10/6, title= (architecture, fine arts) A motif.
(music) A motif; a theme or subject, especially one that is central to the work or often repeated.
To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.
Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move; as, a motive argument; motive power.
* 1658 , Sir Thomas Browne, The Garden of Cyrus , Folio Society 2007, p. 195:
Relating to motion and/or to its cause
Bait is a related term of motive.
As an adjective bait
is .As a verb motive is
.bait
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) bait, beite, from (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)- (Fairfax)
Usage notes
Used in Geordie dialect of English to denote your lunch at work as opposed to other meals. Also used in East Anglian dialect of English to denote a small meal taken mid-morning while farming, and in the North of England to denote a snack taken by miners to eat while working.Derived terms
* baiting * flamebait * jailbait * shark baitReferences
* * * * *Verb
(en verb)- a crooked pin bailed with a vile earthworm
Usage notes
* This verb is sometimes confused in writing with the rare verb (bate), which is pronounced identically; in particular, the expression (with bated breath) is frequently misspelled *(term) by writers unfamiliar with the verb (bate).Etymology 2
From (etyl) baiten, beiten, from (etyl) .Verb
(en verb)See also
*Etymology 3
(etyl) battre de l'aile'' or ''des ailes , to flap or flutter.Verb
(en verb)- Kites that bait and beat.
Anagrams
* ----motive
English
Noun
(en noun)- Many of them at first seemed kind to him, but it turned out their motives were not entirely altruistic.
- (Shakespeare)
- What would his motive be for burning down the cottage?
- No-one could understand why she had hidden the shovel; her motives were obscure at best.
Death Walks in Eastrepps, passage=“Why should Eldridge commit murder?
- If you listen carefully, you can hear the flutes mimicking the cello motive .
Synonyms
* (incentive ) motivation * (creative works ) motifVerb
Synonyms
* motivateAdjective
(-)- In the motive parts of animals may be discovered mutuall proportions; not only in those of Quadrupeds, but in the thigh-bone, legge, foot-bone, and claws of Birds.
