bearbait noun 3verb 1forms 3 noun3 •Bait used to lure bears.I went first this morning to the carcass of the bison we had killed for bearbait ; I found a bear had been there, and had already had his breakfast. — 1940 •An instance of bearbaiting. •A person or animal that is not very useful or respected.The worst ones for straying, curiously enough, were three broken-down old “bearbaits,” which went by themselves, as is generally the case with the cast-off horses of a herd. — 1892 verb1 •To torment or provoke.Creditors, snarling, hound him on from without; mocked Hopes, lost Labours, bearbait him from within: to these torments his fixed-idea keeps him chained. — 1857 formsbearbaited · bearbaiting · bearbaits
