ppl. a. [f. BATE v.2 + -ED.] Lowered or lessened in position, amount, force, estimation, etc.; esp. in Bated breath: breathing subdued or restrained under the influence of awe, terror, or other emotion.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., I. iii. 125. With bated breath, and whispring humblenesse.
a. 1637. B. Jonson, Masques (1692), 335. The longing Bridegroom, in the Porch, Shews you again the bated Torch.
1854. Mrs. Gaskell, North & S., xvi. Take the bated wage, and be thankful.
1872. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1876), IV. xxi. 632. It was whispered with bated breath that the vengeance for the blood of Waltheof had begun.
