Autumn
Autumn is fully upon us, actually the leaves are pretty much all gone, and the wind has got a bite to it. English speakers use a lot of idioms when they talk. For example, "has a bite to it". What does this mean? It can mean food is spicy hot or it can mean the wind is very cold. It can mean many other things:
(bites plural & 3rd person present) (biting present participle) (bit past tense) (bitten past participle)
verb If you bite something, you use your teeth to cut into it. Take a bite of your food and see if you like it.
A bite of something, especially food, is the action of biting it. I took another bite of my sandwich.
A bite is also the amount of food you take into your mouth when you bite it. I look forward to eating dinner, I’ll enjoy every bite!
Informal slang If you have a bite to eat, you have a small meal or a snack. I’m tired; can we stop for a bite to eat?
If a small insect bites you, it makes a mark in your skin, and often causes the surrounding area of your skin to become painful or itchy. Do you have any cream for my bug bite?
verb When an action or policy begins to bite, it begins to have a serious or harmful effect. The new bill was starting to bite the citizens.
verb If an object bites into a surface, it presses hard against it or cuts into it. The drill took a big bite out of the metal block.
If you say that a food or drink has bite, you like it because it has a strong or sharp taste. I love buldak because of the bite it has!
If the air or the wind has a bite, it feels sharp and very cold. The autumn wind had a bite to it.
verb Contextual - If a fish bites when you are fishing, it takes the hook or bait at the end of your fishing line in its mouth. The fish were biting at Oscars bait but no one else’s. If I don't get a bite in a few minutes I’m leaving.
Other types of bite can be used for → love bite → nail-biting
♦ bite the hand that feeds you - phrase - If someone bites the hand that feeds them, they behave badly or in an ungrateful way towards someone who they depend on. I want to colour my hair despite my parents saying no, but I don’t want to bite the hand that feeds me so I probably won’t do it.
♦ bite one's lip/tongue - phrase - If you bite your lip or your tongue, you stop yourself from saying something inappropriate or something that could cause trouble. I must learn to bite my lip..., He bit his tongue as he found himself on the point of saying `follow that car', My Grandmother wasn’t being very nice, but to be respectful I bit my tongue.
♦ take a bite out of - phrase - If something takes a bite out of a sum of money, part of the money is spent or taken away in order to pay for it. We need a new TV, it’s going to take a bite out of our budget this month.
bite-sized, bite-size - Bite-sized pieces of food are small enough to fit easily in your mouth. Cut the babies food into bite-size pieces.
adjective If you describe something as bite-sized, you like it because it is small enough to be dealt with easily. The guides are divided into bite-sized sections.
What do these idioms mean? Other idioms: → someone's bark is worse than their bite → to bite the bullet → to bite off more than one can chew → to bite the dust