take the bait
The phrase "take the bait" originates from fishing, where a fish bites onto bait on a hook, and is now used figuratively to describe someone being lured or tricked into a situation.
🇺🇸 US Voice:
🇬🇧 UK Voice:
Definition
B2General
(informal)To be lured or tempted into a trap or deception.
Example
- He took the bait and clicked on the suspicious link.
B2General
(informal)To react to a provocation or enticement in a way that was intended by the provocateur.
Example
- She took the bait and started arguing with him.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "take the bait":
fall into a trapcut baittake the plungetake a bitetake a diveget taken inbait boxtake the falltake the hintlink baittake itcatch outreel incatch ittake a flyertake a grabmonkey traptake the point