 4 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
biting
adjective
1: capable of wounding; "a barbed compliment"; "a biting
aphorism"; "pungent satire" [syn: {barbed}, {nipping},
{pungent}, {mordacious}]
2: causing a sharply painful or stinging sensation; used
especially of cold; "bitter cold"; "a biting wind" [syn: {bitter}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Bite \Bite\ (b[imac]t), verb (used with an object) [imp. {Bit} (b[i^]t); p. p.
{Bitten} (b[i^]t"t'n), {Bit}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Biting}.] [OE.
biten, AS. b[=i]tan; akin to D. bijten, OS. b[=i]tan, OHG.
b[=i]zan, G. beissen, Goth. beitan, Icel. b[=i]ta, Sw. bita,
Dan. bide, L. findere to cleave, Skr. bhid to cleave.
[root]87. Cf. {Fissure}.]
1. To seize with the teeth, so that they enter or nip the
thing seized; to lacerate, crush, or wound with the teeth;
as, to bite an apple; to bite a crust; the dog bit a man.
Such smiling rogues as these,
Like rats, oft bite the holy cords atwain. --Shak.
2. To puncture, abrade, or sting with an organ (of some
insects) used in taking food.
3. To cause sharp pain, or smarting, to; to hurt or injure,
in a literal or a figurative sense; as, pepper bites the
mouth. ''Frosts do bite the meads.'' --Shak.
4. To cheat; to trick; to take in. [Colloq.] --Pope.
5. To take hold of; to hold fast; to adhere to; as, the
anchor bites the ground.
The last screw of the rack having been turned so
often that its purchase crumbled, . . . it turned
and turned with nothing to bite. --Dickens.
{To bite the dust}, {To bite the ground}, to fall in the
agonies of death; as, he made his enemy bite the dust.
{To bite in} (Etching), to corrode or eat into metallic
plates by means of an acid.
{To bite the thumb at} (any one), formerly a mark of
contempt, designed to provoke a quarrel; to defy. ''Do you
bite your thumb at us?'' --Shak.
{To bite the tongue}, to keep silence. --Shak.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Biting \Bit"ing\, adjective
That bites; sharp; cutting; sarcastic; caustic. ''A biting
affliction.'' ''A biting jest.'' --Shak.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
165 Moby Thesaurus words for "biting":
Attic, Siberian, acerb, acerbate, acerbic, acid, acidic, acidulent,
acidulous, acrid, acrimonious, acute, afflictive, agonizing, algid,
arctic, asperous, astringent, atrocious, below zero, bitter,
bitterly cold, bleak, boreal, brilliant, brisk, brumal, caustic,
clear-cut, clever, cold, cold as charity, cold as death,
cold as ice, cold as marble, corroding, corrosive, cramping, crisp,
cruel, cutting, distressing, double-edged, driving, droll, edged,
effective, escharotic, excruciating, facetious, fierce, forceful,
forcible, freezing, freezing cold, frigid, funny, gelid, glacial,
gnawing, grave, griping, gutsy, hard, harrowing, harsh, hibernal,
hiemal, humorous, humorsome, hurtful, hurting, hyperborean,
ice-cold, ice-encrusted, icelike, icy, imperative, impressive,
incisive, inclement, ingoing, irritating, jesting, jocose, jocular,
joking, joky, joshing, keen, keen-witted, mordacious, mordant,
nervous, nimble-witted, nipping, nippy, nose-tickling, numbing,
painful, paroxysmal, penetrating, piercing, pinching, piquant,
poignant, pointed, powerful, punchy, pungent, quick-witted,
racking, rapier-like, raw, rigorous, rough, salt, salty, scathing,
scintillating, scorching, sensational, severe, sharp, shooting,
sinewed, sinewy, slashing, sleety, slushy, smart, snappy, sour,
sparkling, spasmatic, spasmic, spasmodic, sprightly, stabbing,
stinging, stone-cold, strident, striking, stringent, strong,
subzero, supercooled, tart, telling, tormenting, torturous,
trenchant, vehement, vigorous, violent, virulent, vital, vitriolic,
whimsical, winterbound, winterlike, wintery, wintry, withering,
witty
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