Bit vs. Bite — What's the Difference?

The cutting part of a tool.

A sharp or stinging sensation.

A short period of time.

To take in or deceive.

The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communications. The name is a contraction of binary digit.

(of a person or animal) use the teeth to cut into something

A small piece, part, or quantity of something

(of a tool, tyre, boot, etc.) grip or take hold on a surface

A set of actions or ideas associated with a specific group or activity

An act of biting something in order to eat it

A girl or young woman

A piece cut off by biting

A person's genitals

A sharp or pungent flavour

A unit of 12 1/2 cents (used only in even multiples).

To cut, grip, or tear with or as if with the teeth.

A mouthpiece, typically made of metal, which is attached to a bridle and used to control a horse.

To pierce the skin of with the teeth, fangs, or mouthparts.

A tool or piece for boring or drilling

To sting with a stinger.

A unit of information expressed as either a 0 or 1 in binary notation.

To cut into with or as if with a sharp instrument

Put a bit into the mouth of (a horse).

To grip, grab, or seize

A small portion, degree, or amount

To eat into; corrode.

A brief amount of time; a moment

To cause to sting or be painful

A short scene or episode in a theatrical performance.

To grip, cut into, or injure something with or as if with the teeth.

A bit part.

To have a stinging effect.

An entertainment routine given regularly by a performer; an act.

To have a sharp taste.

A particular kind of action, situation, or behavior

To take or swallow bait.

A matter being considered

To be taken in by a ploy or deception

(Informal) An amount equal to one eighth of a dollar

Vulgar Slang To be highly disagreeable or annoying.

Chiefly British A small coin

The act of biting.

The sharp part of a tool, such as the cutting edge of a knife or axe.

A skin wound or puncture produced by an animal's teeth or mouthparts

A pointed and threaded tool for drilling and boring that is secured in a brace, bitstock, or drill press.

A stinging or smarting sensation.

The part of a key that enters the lock and engages the bolt and tumblers.

An incisive, penetrating quality

The tip of the mouthpiece on a pipe or a cigarette or cigar holder.

An amount removed by or as if by an act of biting

The metal mouthpiece of a bridle, serving to control, curb, and direct an animal.

An excerpt or fragment taken from something larger, such as a film.

Something that controls, guides, or curbs.

An amount of food taken into the mouth at one time; a mouthful.

A binary digit, having either the value 0 or 1, used to store or represent data.

(Informal) A light meal or snack.

To place a bit in the mouth of (a horse, for example).

The act or an instance of taking bait

To check or control with or as if with a bit.

A secure grip or hold applied by a tool or machine upon a working surface.

To make or grind a bit on (a key).

The part of a tool or machine that presses against and maintains a firm hold on a working surface.

Past tense and a past participle of bite.

(Dentistry) The angle at which the upper and lower teeth meet; occlusion.

A piece of metal placed in a horse's mouth and connected to the reins to direct the animal.

The corrosive action of acid upon an etcher's metal plate.

A rotary cutting tool fitted to a drill, used to bore holes.

(Slang) An amount of money appropriated or withheld

A coin of a specified value.

(transitive) To cut into something by clamping the teeth.

A ten-cent piece, dime.

(transitive) To hold something by clamping one's teeth.

A unit of currency or coin in the Americas worth a fraction of a Spanish dollar; now specifically, an eighth of a US dollar.

(intransitive) To attack with the teeth.

In the southern and southwestern states, a small silver coin (such as the real) formerly current; commonly, one worth about 12½ cents; also, the sum of 12½ cents.

(intransitive) To behave aggressively; to reject advances.

A small amount of something.

(intransitive) To take hold; to establish firm contact with.

(informal) Specifically, a small amount of time.

(intransitive) To have significant effect, often negative.

Fractions of a second.

To bite a baited hook or other lure and thus be caught.

A portion of something.

To accept something offered, often secretly or deceptively, to cause some action by the acceptor.

Somewhat; something, but not very great; also used like jot and whit to express the smallest degree. See also a bit.

To sting.

(slang) A prison sentence, especially a short one.

(intransitive) To cause a smarting sensation; to have a property which causes such a sensation; to be pungent.

An excerpt of material making up part of a show, comedy routine, etc.

To cause sharp pain or damage to; to hurt or injure.

The part of a key which enters the lock and acts upon the bolt and tumblers.

(intransitive) To cause sharp pain; to produce anguish; to hurt or injure; to have the property of so doing.

The cutting iron of a plane.

(intransitive) To take or keep a firm hold.

The bevelled front edge of an axehead along which the cutting edge runs.

(transitive) To take hold of; to hold fast; to adhere to.

(BDSM) A gag of a style similar to a bridle.

To lack quality; to be worthy of derision; to suck.

(MLE) A gun.

To perform oral sex on. Used in invective.

A binary digit, generally represented as a 1 or 0.

To plagiarize, to imitate.

(computing) The smallest unit of storage in a digital computer, consisting of a binary digit.

(obsolete) To deceive or defraud; to take in.

Any datum that may take on one of exactly two values.

The act of biting.

(information theory) A unit of measure for information entropy.

The wound left behind after having been bitten.

A microbitcoin, or a millionth of a bitcoin (0.000001 BTC).

The swelling of one's skin caused by an insect's mouthparts or sting.

(transitive) To put a bridle upon; to put the bit in the mouth of (a horse).

A piece of food of a size that would be produced by biting; a mouthful.

Inflection of bite, bitten

(slang) Something unpleasant.

Having been bitten.

(slang) An act of plagiarism.

The part of a bridle, usually of iron, which is inserted in the mouth of a horse, and having appendages to which the reins are fastened.

A small meal or snack.

Fig.: Anything which curbs or restrains.

(figuratively) aggression

In the British West Indies, a fourpenny piece, or groat.

The hold which the short end of a lever has upon the thing to be lifted, or the hold which one part of a machine has upon another.

A part of anything, such as may be bitten off or taken into the mouth; a morsel; a bite. Hence: A small piece of anything; a little; a mite.

A cheat; a trick; a fraud.

Somewhat; something, but not very great.

A sharper; one who cheats.

A tool for boring, of various forms and sizes, usually turned by means of a brace or bitstock. See Bitstock.

(printing) A blank on the edge or corner of a page, owing to a portion of the frisket, or something else, intervening between the type and paper.

The part of a key which enters the lock and acts upon the bolt and tumblers.

(slang) A cut, a proportion of profits; an amount of money.

The cutting iron of a plane.

(television) sound bite

In the Southern and Southwestern States, a small silver coin (as the real) formerly current; commonly, one worth about 12 1/2 cents; also, the sum of 12 1/2 cents.

To seize with the teeth, so that they enter or nip the thing seized; to lacerate, crush, or wound with the teeth; as, to bite an apple; to bite a crust; the dog bit a man.

To put a bridle upon; to put the bit in the mouth of.

To puncture, abrade, or sting with an organ (of some insects) used in taking food.

The smallest unit of information, equivalent to a choice between two alternatives, as yes or no; on or off.

To cause sharp pain, or smarting, to; to hurt or injure, in a literal or a figurative sense; as, pepper bites the mouth.

The physical representation of a bit of information in a computer memory or a data storage medium. Within a computer circuit a bit may be represented by the state of a current or an electrical charge; in a magnetic storage medium it may be represented by the direction of magnetization; on a punched card or on paper tape it may be represented by the presence or absence of a hole at a particular point on the card or tape.

To cheat; to trick; to take in.

A small quantity;

To take hold of; to hold fast; to adhere to; as, the anchor bites the ground.

A small fragment of something broken off from the whole;

To seize something forcibly with the teeth; to wound with the teeth; to have the habit of so doing; as, does the dog bite?

An indefinitely short time;

To cause a smarting sensation; to have a property which causes such a sensation; to be pungent; as, it bites like pepper or mustard.

An instance of some kind;

To cause sharp pain; to produce anguish; to hurt or injure; to have the property of so doing.

Piece of metal held in horse's mouth by reins and used to control the horse while riding;

To take a bait into the mouth, as a fish does; hence, to take a tempting offer.

A unit of measurement of information (from Binary + digIT); the amount of information in a system having two equiprobable states;

To take or keep a firm hold; as, the anchor bites.

A small amount of solid food; a mouthful;

The act of seizing with the teeth or mouth; the act of wounding or separating with the teeth or mouth; a seizure with the teeth or mouth, as of a bait; as, to give anything a hard bite.

A small fragment;

The act of puncturing or abrading with an organ for taking food, as is done by some insects.

A short theatrical performance that is part of a longer program;

The wound made by biting; as, the pain of a dog's or snake's bite; the bite of a mosquito.

The cutting part of a drill; usually pointed and threaded and is replaceable in a brace or bitstock or drill press;

A morsel; as much as is taken at once by biting.

A small piece or fragment.

The hold which the short end of a lever has upon the thing to be lifted, or the hold which one part of a machine has upon another.

The smallest data unit in computing, binary digit.

A cheat; a trick; a fraud.

Past tense of the verb Bite.

A sharper; one who cheats.

A blank on the edge or corner of a page, owing to a portion of the frisket, or something else, intervening between the type and paper.

A wound resulting from biting by an animal or a person

A small amount of solid food; a mouthful;

A painful wound caused by the thrust of an insect's stinger into skin

A light informal meal

(angling) an instance of a fish taking the bait;

Wit having a sharp and caustic quality;

A strong odor or taste property;

The act of gripping or chewing off with the teeth and jaws

A portion removed from the whole;

To grip, cut off, or tear with or as if with the teeth or jaws;

Cause a sharp or stinging pain or discomfort;

Penetrate or cut, as with a knife;

Deliver a sting to;

The act of cutting into something with teeth.

A small portion of food.

The wound or mark left by biting.

Often yes, but it can also refer to tool parts or binary digits in computing.

Yes, Bite can indicate a sharp or pungent flavor.

It suggests the food has a sharp, spicy, or pungent taste.

Yes, Bit is the past tense of the verb Bite.

Yes, a Bit is the smallest data unit, representing a binary digit.

Yes, phrases like "more than one can bite off" use Bite idiomatically.

Yes, a Bit is a piece of metal placed in a horse's mouth to control it.

Yes, you can take a Bite (noun) or bite into something (verb).

In the context of the biting action, yes. But Bit has other meanings too.

It means very cold, sharply cold.

Yes, "a bite of cake" means a small piece or portion of cake.

It emphasizes the entirety or whole of something.

Both trace back to Old English, with "bitan" meaning to bite.

It's the cutting part of a drill used to bore holes.

Yes, when a snake uses its fangs, it's termed a bite.