Bāte1, n.
n. [Either from A-S. bate, contention, or an abbrev. from debate, q. v.] Strife; contention. [Obs.] “Breeds no bate with telling.” Shak.
4 entries under this word
Bate
Bāte2, v. t.
v. t. [imp. & p. p. BATED; p. pr. & vb. n. BATING.] [Abbreviated from abate, q. v.] 1. To lessen by retrenching, deducting, or reducing; to abate. He must either bate the laborer’s wages, or not employ or not pay him. Locke. 2. To allow by way of abatement or deduction. These are the conditions of his treating with God, to whom he bates nothing of what he stood upon with the parliament. 3. To leave out; to except. Bate me the king, and, be he flesh and blood, He lies that says it. Beau. & Fl. 4. To remove. [Obs.] About autumn bate the earth from about the roots of olives, and lay them bare. Holland. 5. To deprive of. [Obs. and rare.] When baseness is exalted, do not bate The place its honor for the person’s sake. Herbert. 6. To attack; to molest. [Obs.] See BAIT. Barking and biting all that him do bate. Spenser.
Bāte3, v. i.
v. i. 1. To remit or retrench a part;— with of. Abate thy speed, and I will bate of mine. Dryden.
Sense 2. To penetrate; to sink in. [Obs.] *Yet there the steel staid not, but inly bate Deep in the flesh, and opened wide a red flood gate. Spencer.*
Sense 3. To flutter as a hawk; to bait. Bacon.
Bāte4, imp.
imp. of bite. [Obs.] Spenser.