bitten

bitten — verb

1. the form of the verb 'bite' that requires an auxiliary verb such as 'have' or 'b

1.verbA2
Definition

the form of the verb 'bite' that requires an auxiliary verb such as 'have' or 'be' — used when talking about a biting action that happened before the present moment or when describing what someone or something suffered from teeth or a sting.

Example

The neighbour's dog had bitten two people before the owner put up a warning sign.

past perfect: had bitten + [object]

Beatrix was bitten by a spider while she was gardening in the backyard.

passive: was/were bitten by [agent]

Common collocations
  • bitten by a dog/snake/spider/insect
  • bitten off more than one can chew
  • bitten nails/lip/tongue
  • bitten into [food]
  • get bitten

Grammar Patterns

have/has/had + bitten + [object]

was/were + bitten + (by + [agent])

Usage Note

Common with auxiliary verbs in perfect tenses (has bitten, had bitten) and passive constructions (was bitten, were bitten). Also used as an adjective before nouns to describe something that has been damaged by teeth, such as 'a bitten lip' or 'bitten fingernails'.

Common Mistakes

Yesterday, a dog bitten me on the leg.
Yesterday, a dog bit me on the leg.
'bitten' is the past participle and needs an auxiliary verb; use 'bit' (simple past) for a finished action.
She has bit into the apple.
She has bitten into the apple.
the past participle of 'bite' is 'bitten', not 'bit'.

Word family

  • bite
    verbA2
  • bite
    nounB1
  • biter
    nounB2
  • biting
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All three words describe actions done by the mouth, but they differ in the agent and intent. 'Bitten' is the past participle of 'bite' and is used when teeth press into skin or an object, often done by animals, people, or insects. 'Stung' (past participle of 'sting') is specific to insects, jellyfish, or plants that inject venom through a sharp point. 'Chewed' is the past participle of 'chew' and describes grinding food with the back teeth, not piercing or wounding. For example: 'The child was bitten by a dog' describes teeth wounding the skin; 'I was stung by a bee' describes venom injection; 'The gum had been chewed for an hour' describes mashing with teeth.

bitten ↗stungchewed

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Bitten comes from Old English 'biten', which was the past participle of the verb 'bītan' (to bite). The form has stayed recognisable for over a thousand years, changing only slightly in spelling.