shark bait
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shark bait
- /ˈʃɑːkbeɪt/ UK
- /ˈʃɑɹkbeɪt/ US
Where it comes from
From shark + bait.
noun shark-bait
-
One who is in a precarious or vulnerable position.
Holden's heart was loud enough to deafen him. He couldn't go against a mage of the power. No one could, no one could ever survive. One word and he was shark-bait.
Similar: dead duck, sitting duck
- One who has been, or is likely to be, attacked by a shark. When Ian informed Will that it was his turn for shark-bait position, he was told, "You know, Lyssa came in second in chess club, but she lost to Seth Birnbaum in the final." By unspoken agreement, Luke, Ian, and Charla stopped asking Will to take his turn dangling in the ocean.
-
A lone swimmer or surfer far from shore.
The meeting formed a committee to investigate and make recommendations to 'counteract the shark menace'. […] [T]he committee […] suggested that 'drastic penalties could be inflicted on surfers who bathed at dangerous hours or swam out far enough to earn the title of "shark bait"'.
Similar: shark baiter
-
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see shark, bait.
Near-synonym: chum
Similar: chum
Talk about this word "shark bait." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/shark%20bait. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. shark bait. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/shark%20bait "shark bait." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/shark%20bait.Cite this
@misc{shark_bait_2026,
title = {shark bait},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/shark%20bait},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
