bate
/beɪt/verb, noun
bate is spelled B-A-T-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,863rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “bait vs bate” about 110 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, bate means “To reduce the force of something; to abate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in bate?
| Letters | 4: B-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 38,863rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is bate?
Bate appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,863rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bate?
- /beɪt/
Bate has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-bate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with bate
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: bait (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with bate?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as bate.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: beat, beta, abet.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of bate
- bates present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- bating participle, present
- bated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To reduce the force of something; to abate.
- 2
To restrain, usually with the sense of being in anticipation
- 3
To cut off, remove, take away.
- 4
archaicTo leave out, except, bar.
- 5
To waste away.
- 6
To deprive of.
- 7
To lessen by retrenching, deducting, or reducing; to abate; to beat down; to lower.
- 8
To allow by way of abatement or deduction.
- 9
To contend or strive with blows or arguments.
- 10
Of a falcon: to flap the wings vigorously; to bait.
- 11
To soak leather so as to remove chemicals used in tanning; to steep in bate.
- 12
slangClipping of masturbate.
noun
- 1
Strife; contention.
- 2
An alkaline lye which neutralizes the effect of the previous application of lime, and makes hides supple in the process of tanning.
- 3
A vat which contains this liquid.
- 4
Irelanddirection, course, track
What bate are you on now = where are you going and why ? The dog is on some bate = is finding or following a scent.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does bate come from?
Inherited from Middle English baten (“to abate”), an apheretic form of abaten, from Old French abatre (“to knock down”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).