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Barely vs Bate - What's the difference?

barely | bate |

As an adverb barely

is (degree) by a small margin.

As a verb bate is

.

barely

English

Adverb

(-)
  • (degree) By a small margin.
  • * 1748 , , Oxford University Press (1973), section 8:
    • It becomes, therefore, no inconsiderable part of science barely to know the different operations of mind,
  • * 1925 , Walter Anthony and Tom Reed (titles), Rupert Julian (director), The Phantom of the Opera , silent movie
    • ‘It is barely possible you may hear of a ghost, a Phantom of the Opera!’
  • (degree) Almost not at all.
    • The plane is so far away now I can barely see it.
    Yes, it is barely visible.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011
    • , date=October 23 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Man Utd 1 - 6 Man City , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=In contrast to what was to come, City were barely allowed any time to settle on the ball in the opening exchanges, with Ashley Young prominent and drawing heavy fouls from Micah Richards and James Milner.}}
  • (archaic) merely.
  • * 1661 , , page 29,
    • Now that fire do's not alwayes barely separate the Elementary parts, but sometimes at least alter also the Ingredients of Bodies

    Usage notes

    It is grammatically a negative word. It therefore collocates with ever rather than never. * Compare You can find barely ever used items on eBay.'' with ''You can almost never find used items on eBay.

    Synonyms

    * (degree) hardly, scarcely * hardly, just, only just, scarcely

    Anagrams

    * English degree adverbs

    bate

    English

    Etymology 1

    Aphetic from (abate).

    Verb

    (bat)
  • To reduce the force of something; to abate.
  • * Dryden
    • Abate thy speed, and I will bate of mine.
  • To restrain, usually with the sense of being in anticipation; as, with bated breath .
  • (transitive, sometimes, figuratively) To cut off, remove, take away.
  • * Dr. Henry More, Government of the Tongue :
    • He will not bate an ace of absolute certainty.
  • * Holland
    • About autumn bate the earth from about the roots of olives, and lay them bare.
  • (archaic) To leave out, except, bar.
  • * 1610 , , act 2, scene 1:
    • (Sebastian) "Bate , I beseech you, widow Dido."
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
    • Bate me the king, and, be he flesh and blood, / He lies that says it.
  • To waste away.
  • * 1597 , , act 3, scene 3:
    • (Falstaff) "Bardolph, am I not fallen away vilely since this last action? do I not bate ? do I not dwindle?"
  • To deprive of.
  • * Herbert
    • When baseness is exalted, do not bate / The place its honour for the person's sake.
  • To lessen by retrenching, deducting, or reducing; to abate; to beat down; to lower.
  • * John Locke
    • He must either bate the labourer's wages, or not employ or not pay him.
  • To allow by way of abatement or deduction.
  • * South
    • to whom he bates nothing or what he stood upon with the parliament

    References

    * 1897 Universal Dictionary of the English Language , Robert Hunter and Charles Morris (editors), volume 1, page 459.

    Etymology 2

    * Noun: From the verb, or directly from the noun (debate). * Verb: From Anglo-Saxon = contention. From (etyl) batre (French battre). From batere.

    Noun

    (-)
  • Strife; contention.
  • * 1598, William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 2 :
    • ... and wears his boots very smooth, like unto the sign of the leg, and breeds no bate with telling of discreet stories;
  • * 1888, Sir Richard Burton, The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night (Arabian Nights)
    • So the strife redoubled and the weapons together clashed and ceased not bate and debate and naught was to be seen but blood flowing and necks bowing;
  • * 1911, H.G. Wells, The New Machiavelli :
    • The other merely needs jealousy and bate , of which there are great and easily accessible reservoirs in every human heart.

    Verb

    (bat)
  • To contend or strive with blows or arguments.
  • (falconry) Of a falcon: To flap the wings vigorously; to bait.
    • (Francis Bacon)

    See also

    * (to contend or strive with blows or arguments) bait.

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An alkaline lye which neutralizes the effect of the previous application of lime, and makes hides supple in the process of tanning.
  • A vat which contains this liquid.

    • Verb

    (bat)
  • To soak leather so as to remove chemicals used in tanning; to steep in bate.

    • References

    * 1897 Universal Dictionary of the English Language , Robert Hunter and Charles Morris (editors), volume 1, page 459.

    Etymology 4

    Formed by analogy with eat ? ate, with which it shares an analogous past participle (eaten ? beaten).

    Verb

    (head)
  • (nonstandard) (beat); = beat.
  • * 2008 October 20th, , episode 5: “The Euclid Alternative”
    • . Goodnight.

    Etymology 5

    Shortening of (m).

    Verb

    (bat)
  • (slang) To masturbate.

    • Anagrams

    * English terms with multiple etymologies ----