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Eudora Thao
2021-02-06 01:02
Bated breath British American formal phrase
Bated breath literally means breathing is reduced or restrained because of emotion or challenge.
. The expression means someone is waiting for something in a nervous way.
I waited with bated breath for the moment when I became the winner.
We listened with bated breath to my brother's story of his car accident.
The word 'bated' is often mispelled as 'baited' referring to the fish trapping food (to bait). But the word refers to slowing down in this situation (of breath). Breath slowing as one is nervous about an outcome or fearing a particular outcome literally leaves a bated breath individual. Although originally intended to show fear or nervousness, the phrase is also used in the present day for outcomes.
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