Definition of "bate"

Ah, left ſome Thorn ſhoul'd pierce thy tender Foot, / Or thou ſhoul'dſt fall in flying my purſuit! / To ſharp uneven Ways thy ſteps decline; / Abate thy Speed, and I will bate of mine.

1717, John Dryden, “Book I. [The Transformation of Daphne into a Laurel.]”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], page 23

[…] and to his dying day he bated his breath a little when he told the story of the stroke with the willow wand.

1859, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “Home and Its Sorrows”, in Adam Bede […], volume I, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, book first, page 66

Nay, if he be of a proud humour, […] he will not Bate an Ace of abſolute certainty, but however doubtful or improbable the thing is, coming f[r]om him it muſt go for an indiſputable truth.

1674, [Richard Allestree], “Of Positiveness”, in The Government of the Tongue. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: At the Theater, page 197

Bate the King, and be he fleſh and blood, / He lyes that ſaies it, thy mother at fifteen / Was black and ſinful to her.

c. 1608–1611, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Maid’s Tragedy”, in Fifty Comedies and Tragedies. […], [part 1], London: […] J[ohn] Macock [and H. Hills], for John Martyn, Henry Herringman, and Richard Marriot, published 1679, Act I, scene i, page 2, column 2

Bate (I beſeech you) widdow Dido.

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene i], page 7, column 1

Bardoll, am I not falne away vilely ſince this laſt action? do I not bate? do I not dwindle? Why, my skinne hangs about me like an old Ladies looſe gowne.

c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, [Act III, scene iii]

When baseness is exalted, do not bate / The place its honour for the person's sake; […]

a. 1634, George Herbert, “The Church Porch”, in Alexander B[alloch] Grosart, editor, The Complete Works in Verse and Prose of George Herbert. […] (The Fuller Worthies’ Library), volume I (Verse), London: […] [Robson and Sons] for private circulation, published 1874, page 20

[W]hen the Landholder's Rent falls, he muſt either bate the Labourer's Wages, or not imploy, or not pay him; which either way makes him feel the want of Money.

1691, [John Locke], Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money. […], London: […] Awnsham and John Churchill, […], published 1692, page 113

Theſe are the conditions of his treating with God, to whom he bates nothing or what he ſtood upon with the Parlament: as if Commiſſions of Array could deale with him alſo.

1649, J[ohn] Milton, “Vpon His Penitentiall Meditations and Vowes at Holmby”, in ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], pages 202–203

[…] and weares his Boot very ſmooth, like vnto the Signe of the Legge; and breedes no bate with telling of diſcreete stories:

c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene iv], page 84

So the strife redoubled and the weapons together clashed and ceased not bate and debate and naught was to be seen but blood flowing and necks bowing; […]

1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […]

The other merely needs jealousy and bate, of which there are great and easily accessible reservoirs in every human heart.

1911, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, The New Machiavelli, London: John Lane; The Bodley Head […]

The fiꝛſt is holde faſt at all timys, and ſpecially whan ſhe batith. It is calde batyng, for ſhe batith with hiꝛ ſelfe moſt oftyn cauſeles[.]

1486, Juliana Berners, Book of Saint Albans

I am like a hawk , that bates , when I see occasion of service , but cannot fly because I am tied to another's fist

1600, Francis Bacon, letter to Queen Elizabeth, upon the sending of a new-year's gift

The process of unliming hides and skins in tanning has been a slow and disgusting one, consisting in soaking the skins in a bath of manure in water, called bate.

1888, Popular Science, volume 34, number 10, page 287

Fitzpatrick, now perceiving […] that he had made a very unfortunate mistake, began to ask many pardons of the lady; and then, turning to Jones, he said, “I would have you take notice I do not ask your pardon, for you have bate me; for which I am resolved to have your blood in the morning.”

1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume IV, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], page 13

Leonard: Penny’s taking you to the DMV; I’m going to bed.Sheldon: Why Penny?Leonard: Because rock bate scissors. Goodnight.

2008 October 20, Lee Aronsohn, David Goetsch, Steven Molaro, Bill Prady, “The Euclid Alternative”, in The Big Bang Theory, season 2, episode 5, Chuck Lorre Productions, via Warner Bros. Television and CBS