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bearbaiting

noun

Etymology

From Middle English bere baityng; equivalent to bear + baiting or bearbait + -ing.

  1. inherited from bere baityng

Definitions

  1. A blood sport in which dogs are set upon a chained bear

    • But bearbaiting, then a favourite diversion of high and low, was the abomination which most strongly stirred the wrath of the austere sectaries.
    • By this the whole matter had presented itself to them as an entertainment more diverting than bullfight or bearbaiting.

  2. A bloodthirsty free for all.

    • But that's not the worst part of the phenomenon that the press conference bearbaiting illustrates.
    • ...recalls a typical scene of bear-baiting, the news-hounds tearing away at her flesh with those sex-hungry looks and sexually inquisitive questions.

  3. present participle and gerund of bearbait

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for bearbaiting. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA