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Glite Dictionary
a bite of

a bite of

25 1.0
A small piece of food taken from a larger serving
  • idiom
translation icon : bocado
  • Mitchell took a bite of chili, and his eyes began to water.
  • take a bite of
  • a bite of food
  • a bite of cake

Examples

Synonyms

bit
vsa bite of
∞ 1.0

A small piece or amount of something, for example food

is specifically a small food portion taken from a larger serving
taste
vsa bite of
324 1.4

A small sample or short experience of something

is a tangible small food piece intended as part of a serving
bite
vsa bite of
302 1.0

A small amount of food eaten quickly

is a small portion taken from a larger serving rather than a snack
mouthful
vsa bite of
59 1.6

An amount of food or drink you can put in your mouth at once

is about a small served piece rather than the mouth's capacity
morsel
vsa bite of
28 3.2

A small piece of food that you eat in one bite

is specifically a small piece taken from a larger serving
one bite
vsa bite of
20 1.0

A single piece of food you put into your mouth at once

is used for a small piece taken from a shared larger serving
tidbit
vsa bite of
  • US
5 3.6

A small tasty piece of food to eat

is a small piece from a larger serving without focusing on taste
lick of
vsa bite of
  • Informal
3 6.8

A very small amount of something, often a taste like honey

is a more substantial small portion taken from a larger serving
ort
vsa bite of
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A small piece of food left after a meal

is a small portion taken deliberately from a larger serving, not leftover
a nibble of
vsa bite of
2.5

A small bite of food

is a small portion taken in one action from a larger serving

How Big

portion
61 1.3
helping
5 1.0
a bite of
25 1.0

Surface Forms

a bite of singular
a bites of plural

Morphology

a + bite + of

The meaning is directly compositional: 'bite' denotes a small mouthful and 'of' marks a partitive relationship, so 'a bite of [something]' straightforwardly means a small portion taken from a larger serving. This is a common, cross-linguistic partitive construction and follows normal English noun phrase composition, making it immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

A bite of comes from the simple image of using your teeth to take a small piece of food. So, when you take a bite of an apple you get only a little piece, and that's why a bite of means 'a small piece or portion of food'.