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Glite Dictionary
🐻 A cruel sport 😠 To provoke 🐕 To attack a bear
bear-baiting

bear-baiting

1 9.9
An old cruel show where a chained bear is attacked by dogs
  • noun
  • Offensive
translation icon : espectáculo de maltrato a osos
  • The cruelty of bear-baiting led to its eventual ban and the rise of animal welfare laws.

Examples

  • Bear-baiting was a popular attraction in England until it was outlawed in the 19th century.

  • Crowds would gather to watch bear-baiting, despite the suffering it caused to the animals.

  • The cruel sport of bear-baiting was popular in medieval England.

  • Many people today find bear-baiting to be barbaric.

  • In the past, bear-baiting was a popular form of entertainment in England.

  • Many people gathered to watch the bear-baiting events at the local fair.

  • Historical accounts describe how bear-baiting attracted large crowds seeking thrill.

Synonyms

baiting
vsbear-baiting
  • Offensive
15 8.4

Hurting or teasing an animal that is tied up for sport

is the historical spectacle targeting a chained large animal attacked by dogs for crowds

Antonyms

protection
974 1.0

Keeping people or things safe from harm

Surface Forms

bear-baiting singular
bear-baitings plural

Morphology

bear-baiting = bear-bait (transparent) = bear + bait + ing

The activity is literally the action of 'baiting' a 'bear' and the -ing nominalization straightforwardly names the event.

Etymology

Bear-baiting comes from the words bear and bait, where 'bait' means 'to set an animal on another to attack', so bear-baiting was an old public show where a chained bear was set on by dogs for people's entertainment.