bite off

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbaɪˌtɒf/
• (Conservative RP) IPA^(key): /ˈbaɪˌtɔːf/

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

Verb

bite off (third-person singular simple present bites off, present participle biting off, simple past bit off, past participle bitten off)

1. To bite so hard as to remove something from its source.
   • 1999, Stephen King, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon:

     Then she cocked her head back, opened her mouth, and bit off the trout's top half.

2. (transitive, idiomatic, sometimes followed by on) To accept or commit oneself to a task, project, notion, or responsibility, especially one which presents challenges.
   • 1967 July 28, “Actresses: Hayley at 21”, in Time‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC:

     In between what she called the "goody-good" or "frilly-knickers" Hollywood films, she bit off some more demanding parts back home.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

   • 1988 December 29, Steve Lohr, “Risk Inherited at Finnish Concern”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 March 2025:

     "And for the next couple of years, with Nokia having bitten off so much, Vuorilehto is the right guy for the task they face."

   • 2006 January 4, Natalie Pace, “Q&A: MySpace Founders Chris DeWolfe And Tom Anderson”, in Forbes‎^[3], archived from the original on 5 August 2025:

     We have set a plan that we believe everyone at News Corp. will bite off on.

   • 2009 October 28, “Healthcare reform: Trigger Unhappy”, in Newsweek‎^[4], archived from the original on 13 October 2026:

     They think it's politically too much for the government to bite off right now.

3. (transitive, idiomatic) To acquire, especially in an abrupt or forceful manner.
   • 1997, Anthony Spaeth, "And Here the Twain Shall Meet," Time, Special Issue—Hong Kong 1997:

     To thicken that buffer zone Britain joined other powers in biting off larger chunks of China.

   • 2007 March 26, Laurie J. Flynn, “Maker of Mobile Games Brings Line to BlackBerry”, in The New York Times‎^[5], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 April 2023:

     For R.I.M. to bite off just a tiny piece of that market would help it grow considerably.

Synonyms

• (accept or commit oneself to a task, etc): accept, attempt, tackle, undertake
• (acquire, especially abruptly or forcefully): appropriate (verb), grab

Derived terms

• bite off more than one can chew

Translations

To remove by biting

• Afrikaans: afbyt
• Dutch: afbijten (nl)
• German: abbeißen (de)
• Latin: demordere

To accept or commit oneself to a task, project, notion, or responsibility

• French: se dévouer (fr), (vulgar) se casser le cul (fr), (informal) se décarcasser (fr)

To acquire, especially in an abrupt or forceful manner

• French: saisir (fr), s'emparer (fr)