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To: P-Marlowe

"What the heck does "baited breath" mean, anyway?"


LOL. It means you've been eating the worms again.

The word is "bated" and it means diminished or withheld, as in holding your breath.


21 posted on 11/02/2006 10:15:26 PM PST by caseinpoint (Don't get thickly involved in thin things.)
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To: caseinpoint
The word is "bated" and it means diminished or withheld, as in holding your breath.

I though bated breath was breath like a bat.


24 posted on 11/02/2006 10:27:49 PM PST by P-Marlowe (LPFOKETT GAHCOEEP-w/o*)
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To: caseinpoint; P-Marlowe
The word is "bated" and it means diminished or withheld, as in holding your breath.

That's what I've heard. I found this:

Bated here is an old participle related to abated, it means stopped. Bated breath is breath that has been stopped, held. With bated breath means "while holding [your] breath" or "in breathless anticipation."
That makes the most sense.

{!}

60 posted on 11/03/2006 7:09:00 AM PST by scripter ("If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." Romans 12:18)
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To: caseinpoint
"baited breath"!

Anchovy pizza breath!

97 posted on 11/03/2006 1:59:14 PM PST by Young Werther
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To: caseinpoint
The word is "bated" and it means diminished or withheld, as in holding your breath.

I like you, word maven.

135 posted on 11/04/2006 10:42:05 AM PST by La Enchiladita (God bless America, Land that I LOVE...)
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