overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

bate.

To reduce the force of something; to abate.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/beɪt/
  1. To reduce the force of something; to abate.

    transitive
  2. To restrain, usually with the sense of being in anticipation

    transitive
  3. To cut off, remove, take away.

    figuratively · sometimes · transitive
  4. To leave out, except, bar.

    archaic · transitive
  5. To waste away.

  6. To deprive of.

  7. To lessen by retrenching, deducting, or reducing; to abate; to beat down; to lower.

  8. To allow by way of abatement or deduction.

Where this word comes from

Inherited from Middle English baten (“to abate”), an apheretic form of abaten, from Old French abatre (“to knock down”).

noun/beɪt/
  1. Strife; contention.

    uncountable
Where this word comes from

* Noun: From the verb, or directly from the noun debate. * Verb: From Middle English bate (“contention”), from Old French batre (French battre), from Latin battere.

verb/beɪt/
  1. To contend or strive with blows or arguments.

    intransitive
  2. Of a falcon: to flap the wings vigorously; to bait.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

* Noun: From the verb, or directly from the noun debate. * Verb: From Middle English bate (“contention”), from Old French batre (French battre), from Latin battere.

noun/beɪt/
  1. An alkaline lye which neutralizes the effect of the previous application of lime, and makes hides supple in the process of tanning.

  2. A vat which contains this liquid.

Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Swedish beta (“maceration, tanning”).

verb/beɪt/
  1. To soak leather so as to remove chemicals used in tanning; to steep in bate.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Swedish beta (“maceration, tanning”).

noun/beɪt/
  1. direction, course, track

    Ireland · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Variant of beat (“rhythm”).

verb/beɪt/
  1. simple past of beat; = beat.

    form-of · nonstandard · obsolete · past
Where this word comes from

Formed by analogy with eat → ate or other Class 5 strong verbs (compare gave, obsolete spake, etc.), with which it shares an analogous past participle (eaten → beaten).

verb/beɪt/
  1. Clipping of masturbate.

    abbreviation · alt-of · clipping · intransitive · slang
FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

bate has 4 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

bate studiobate workshello, bate

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.