biter
a nail-biter
1. Literally, someone who bites their fingernails, especially due to nervousness or agitation. I was a nail-biter at a young age, and, try as I might, I've never managed to shake the habit completely.
2. By extension, a situation, especially a competitive one, whose outcome is particularly close or uncertain and marked by nervous apprehension. Did you catch the football match last Sunday? Man, what a nail-biter! With how close these two candidates are, this election is sure to be a real nail-biter in its final moments.
ankle biter
slang A young child, often a toddler. Hey, I know I said I'd babysit, but I can't watch five ankle biters all by myself!
See also: ankle, biter
knee biter
slang A young child, often a toddler. Hey, I know I said I'd babysit, but I can't watch five knee biters all by myself!
See also: biter, knee
pillow-biter
offensive slang A homosexual male.
the biter bit
dated A person who has committed wrongs is now experiencing the same kind of torment, adversity, etc. She has bullied me for years, and now she's getting a taste of her own medicine. Looks like she is the biter bit. A prankster like him deserves to be the target of his own tricks once in a while. The biter bit, we would call him back home.
See also: bit, biter
the biter gets bit
A person who has committed wrongs is now experiencing the same kind of torment, adversity, etc. She has bullied me for years, and now she's getting a taste of her own medicine. Looks like the biter is getting bit. Ah ha, the biter gets bit! A prankster deserves to be the target of his own tricks once in a while.
See also: bit, biter, get
the biter is bit
dated A person who has committed wrongs is now experiencing the same kind of torment, adversity, etc. She has bullied me for years, and now she's getting a taste of her own medicine. Looks like the biter is bit. Ah ha, the biter is bit! A prankster deserves to be the target of his own tricks once in a while.
See also: bit, biter
the biter is sometimes bit
proverb A person who has committed wrongs often ends up experiencing the same kind of torment, adversity, etc. She has bullied me for years, and now she's getting a taste of her own medicine. I guess the biter is sometimes bit. A prankster like him deserves to be the target of his own tricks once in a while. The biter is sometimes bit, as they say.
See also: bit, biter, sometimes
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
rug rat
Sl. a small child, especially an infant or toddler. (Also a term of address.) You got any rug rats at your house? Hey, you cute little rug rat, come over here.
See also: rat, rug
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
the biter gets bit
BRITISH, OLD-FASHIONEDYou say the biter gets bit to mean that someone suffers as a result of their own actions, especially when they were intending to hurt someone else. Sympathy seldom abounds when the biter gets bit. Note: `Biter' is an old word meaning a swindler (= person who cheats people out of money).
See also: bit, biter, get
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
the biter bit (or bitten)
a person who has done harm has been harmed in a similar way.Biter was a late 17th-century term for a fraudster or trickster. In this sense it now survives only in this phrase.
2000 Locus The most common plot device in Lee's stories is the classic ‘biter bitten’ resolution.
See also: bit, biter
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
the biter ˈbit
the person who wanted to do harm, cheat somebody, etc., has harm done to them, is cheated, etc: It was a case of the biter bit — she’d tried to make him look foolish and ended up being ridiculed herself.See also: bit, biter
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
biter
1. n. a thief. (see also bite.) Some biter made off with my algebra book.
2. n. someone who copies someone else. (From the first sense.) That’s my steelo, you biter!
rug rat
and ankle biter n. a child. Hey, you cute little rug rat, come over here. I got three little ankle biters at home.
See also: rat, rug
ankle biter
verbSee rug rat
See also: ankle, biter
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
- a nail-biter
- hang on by (one's) fingernails
- cling on by (one's) fingernails
- wade in
- wade in(to something)
- wade into
- to the quick
- bite nails
- bite one's nails
- bite your nails/fingernails