English
Etymology
From champ#verb|champ (verb) (chew noisily) + bit ( part of horse's harness held in its mouth); horses tend to chew on their bits when impatient at waiting.
Intransitive verb
rfc-trverb|Intransitive verb
to champ at the bit
- context|of a horse to bite the bit, especially when restless
- idiom (of a person) to show impatience or frustration when delayed
#*2001: Byron Spice, Science Editor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PG News read at http://www.postgazette.com/healthscience/20011001terascale1001p3.asp on 14 May 2006 - Pittsburgh supercomputer is complete, and scientists are champing at the bit to use it.
#*2006: Australian Broadcasting Corporation, webpage for Ideas with wings, a radio series supporting innovation read at http://abc.net.au/science/wings/ on 14 May 2006 - Everyone is champing at the bit to be labelled innovative.
#*2006: Al Rosenquist of Pastika�s Sport Shop, speaking to Terrell Boettcher of Sawyer County Record, Hayward, Wisconsin, Anglers 'champing at the bit' read at 1 on 14 May 2006 - We had quite a few people in last weekend. They�re champing at the bit, ready to go.
Translations
Russian: закÑ�Ñ�иÑ�Ñ� Ñ�дила (zakusÃt' udilá) (1,2)
Related terms
chomp at the bit
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