The phrase is from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, 1596:
"With bated breath, and whispring humblenesse."
It's a contraction of "abated breath," or "stopped breath." Imagine the gap in breathing that occurs right after a gasp or the cessation of breath that happens when you see something astonishing. It's very often misspelled "baited breath."
Comments by groukas
groukas commented on the word bated breath
The phrase is from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, 1596:
"With bated breath, and whispring humblenesse."
It's a contraction of "abated breath," or "stopped breath." Imagine the gap in breathing that occurs right after a gasp or the cessation of breath that happens when you see something astonishing. It's very often misspelled "baited breath."
July 18, 2009