"bates" in the verb sense
1. bate
moderate or restrain lessen the force of
"He bated his breath when talking about this affair"
"capable of bating his enthusiasm"
2. bate
flap the wings wildly or frantically used of falcons
3. bate
soak in a special solution to soften and remove chemicals used in previous treatments
"bate hides and skins"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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