Food or other enticement placed, as a lure, on a hook, or in a trap: The fisherman put an earthworm as bait on the fishing hook.

1. To torment with persistent insult or ridicule: Neighborhood toughs would constantly bait minority groups with racist remarks.
2. To get someone excited by exposing something desirable to that person while keeping it out of reach: Gus wanted to bait his wife by showing her a tantalizing necklace.
3. To put a lure or enticement such as a worm on a fishing hook: Carol's brother taught her how to bait her hook when they went fishing.

To decrease, to lesson the force or intensity of, to moderate: Stacey was about to bate, or to become less active, in his exercise routines.