Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Bite \Bite\, v. t. [imp. {Bit}; p. p. {Bitten}, {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.

Bite \Bite\, v. i.
   1. To seize something forcibly with the teeth; to wound with
      the teeth; to have the habit of so doing; as, does the dog
      bite?

   2. To cause a smarting sensation; to have a property which
      causes such a sensation; to be pungent; as, it bites like
      pepper or mustard.

   3. To cause sharp pain; to produce anguish; to hurt or
      injure; to have the property of so doing.

            At the last it [wine] biteth like serpent, and
            stingeth like an adder.               --Prov. xxiii.
                                                  32.

   4. To take a bait into the mouth, as a fish does; hence, to
      take a tempting offer.

   5. To take or keep a firm hold; as, the anchor bites.

Bite \Bite\, n. [OE. bite, bit, bitt, AS. bite bite, fr.
   b[=i]tan to bite, akin to Icel. bit, OS. biti, G. biss. See
   {Bite}, v., and cf. {Bit}.]
   1. The act of seizing with the teeth or mouth; the act of
      wounding or separating with the teeth or mouth; a seizure
      with the teeth or mouth, as of a bait; as, to give
      anything a hard bite.

            I have known a very good fisher angle diligently
            four or six hours for a river carp, and not have a
            bite.                                 --Walton.

   2. The act of puncturing or abrading with an organ for taking
      food, as is done by some insects.

   3. The wound made by biting; as, the pain of a dog's or
      snake's bite; the bite of a mosquito.

   4. A morsel; as much as is taken at once by biting.

   5. The hold which the short end of a lever has upon the thing
      to be lifted, or the hold which one part of a machine has
      upon another.

   6. A cheat; a trick; a fraud. [Colloq.]

            The baser methods of getting money by fraud and
            bite, by deceiving and overreaching.  --Humorist.

   7. A sharper; one who cheats. [Slang] --Johnson.

   8. (Print.) A blank on the edge or corner of a page, owing to
      a portion of the frisket, or something else, intervening
      between the type and paper.

Source : WordNet®

bite
     n 1: a wound resulting from biting by an animal or a person
     2: a small amount of solid food; a mouthful; "all they had left
        was a bit of bread" [syn: {morsel}, {bit}]
     3: a painful wound caused by the thrust of an insect's stinger
        into skin [syn: {sting}, {insect bite}]
     4: a light informal meal [syn: {collation}, {snack}]
     5: (angling) an instance of a fish taking the bait; "after
        fishing for an hour he still had not had a bite"
     6: wit having a sharp and caustic quality; "he commented with
        typical pungency"; "the bite of satire" [syn: {pungency}]
     7: a strong odor or taste property; "the pungency of mustard";
        "the sulfurous bite of garlic"; "the sharpness of strange
        spices" [syn: {pungency}, {sharpness}]
     8: the act of gripping or chewing off with the teeth and jaws
        [syn: {chomp}]
     9: a portion removed from the whole; "the government's weekly
        bite from my paycheck"
     [also: {bitten}, {bit}]

bite
     v 1: to grip, cut off, or tear with or as if with the teeth or
          jaws; "Gunny invariably tried to bite her" [syn: {seize
          with teeth}]
     2: cause a sharp or stinging pain or discomfort; "The sun
        burned his face" [syn: {sting}, {burn}]
     3: penetrate or cut, as with a knife; "The fork bit into the
        surface"
     4: deliver a sting to; "A bee stung my arm yesterday" [syn: {sting},
         {prick}]
     [also: {bitten}, {bit}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

bite
     
         It's spelled "{byte}" to avoid confusion with
        "{bit}".
     
        (1996-12-13)