Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
see bate (v.1).
Wikipedia
Bated breath, with bated breath, or baited breath refers to restraining one's breathing in anticipation or supplicance. It may also refer to:
- In literature
- "With bated breath", a quote from the earliest known use of the phrase, in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (circa 1597)
- With Bated Breath, a drama by Bryden MacDonald that received the Lambda Literary Award for Drama in 2010
- With Baited Breath, a 2012 audio drama by George Mann that was written as a background novel for the Warhammer 40,000 videogame series
- In music
- "Bated Breath", a 1981 single by post-punk band The Room
- "Bated Breath", a song by singer-songwriter Tinashe on her 2014 debut studio album Aquarius
- "Bated Breath", a song by saxophonist Rob Brown on his 2000 album Visage
- Other
- In linguistics, the phrase "baited breath", an example of an erroneous word substitution known as an eggcorn
- Bated Breath, a horse trained by Roger Charlton that won the 2012 Temple Stakes
Usage examples of "bated breath".
And if he were ever to be Gunn, he needed to consummate their handfast, an action he looked forward to with bated breath.
Everyone was waiting with bated breath for Lionstone to unleash her hound on them again.
Master Haddil reached out again for the left side of the base, and the unnamed two watched with bated breath.
This fair, smooth-faced young man, whose symmetrically arranged hair gave him the air of a large and neat schoolboy, met the Assistant Commissioner's request with a doubtful look, and spoke with bated breath.
Dabbing at his streaming nose, Filch squinted unpleasantly at Harry who waited with bated breath for his sentence to fall.