to bite down
18
3.5
- phrasal verb
- /baɪt daʊn/
- Bite down on it or you'll bite your tongue off.
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Watch on YouTubeLike even right now, you guys watching, if you bite down like it flexes, it's connected.
- Like even right now, you guys watching, if you bite down like it flexes, it's connected.
- Plus he started getting teeth and he would bite down on my boob.
- They're still perfect because if you have a little bit of bad breath or coffee breath or anything, all you do is you put them in your mouth and you like bite down and it's like a little gel.
Examples
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Little Lefty doesn't feel cold, but his teeth start chattering, and he has to bite down hard to stop them.
Fiction book (2000) -
Can you please comply and bite down, sir?
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I just bit down on something.
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So I want you to bite down onto that.
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Do you want to bite down on this?
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You can bite down on that.
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Just bite down on the mouth guard.
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Bite down if you have to.
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Bite down on this, son.
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When the dentist started drilling, I had to bite down on the rubber mouthpiece to endure the pain.
Antonyms
How Firmly
Surface Forms
Morphology
bite + down
The meaning 'to press the teeth firmly together' is directly and compositionally derived from 'bite' (use the teeth) combined with the particle 'down' (indicating a downward/firming action). This is a literal, regular verb + particle construction that B1 learners who know both constituents will readily interpret without prior exposure.
Etymology
Bite down The phrasal verb bite down comes from the literal action of closing your teeth hard: you bite and press your teeth down on something, often to stop pain or to get through a hard moment. That's why it can mean both 'press your teeth together' and 'endure something difficult'.