What's the difference between backbite and backbiting?

Backbite


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To wound by clandestine detraction; to censure meanly or spitefully (an absent person); to slander or speak evil of (one absent).
  • (v. i.) To censure or revile the absent.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) May told backbench MPs at a summer event that their choice was her or Corbyn as prime minister as she urged them to stop the “backbiting”.
  • (2) Not only would the party’s Stalinist-like discipline compare favourably with the chaos and backbiting that would infect the coalition government, but the Shinners would play it all to their advantage in other ways.” With senior Fianna Fáil personnel baulking at the prospect of a formal coalition government with Fine Gael and remaining on the opposition benches, it appears so far that they will not be gifting any “grand coalition wet dream” to Sinn Féin in the near future.
  • (3) The disarray and anonymous backbiting in the Liberal party is infuriating Abbott loyalists and some in the National party .
  • (4) Alastair Campbell, Blair's former communications director, put it: "You know with absolute certainty that today's broadly loyal minister is tomorrow's bitter and backbiting backbencher."
  • (5) Two sources close to the situation described an atmosphere of sniping and backbiting as Trump loyalists position themselves for key jobs,” the network reported.
  • (6) West paid tribute to his Watch the Throne partner Jay-Z, saying the older rapper had looked out for West and protected him in the backbiting culture of hip-hop.
  • (7) Especially intriguing is the behind-the-scenes backbiting and jockeying for position among Simpson’s “dream team” of lawyers: Robert Shapiro (John Travolta), F Lee Bailey (Nathan Lane), Johnny Cochran (Courtney B Vance) and Alan Dershowitz (Evan Handler).
  • (8) Others said they were an inevitable product of the macho news culture in which he was immersed for almost 40 years - from the newsrooms of local papers to the deserts of his African adventures and the backbiting world of BBC internal politics.
  • (9) The Vatileaks scandals, which led to the jailing of the former pope's butler for passing stolen papers to Italian journalists, exposed a nest of backbiting and financial corruption.
  • (10) The haters and the backbiters have ready-made arguments they love to throw in your face.
  • (11) Amid the financial crisis swirling the chancelleries of Europe and the perennial backbiting about an uncompetitive economy suffering at the hands of cheaper labour in the east the economic premise for the EU is often lost: that over the past 25 years, the single market has made goods cheaper, labour cheaper, and trade more secure and more competitive.
  • (12) When it became apparent that Balls had no hope of winning a contest, mired as he was in the backbiting of the New Labour years, they wanted someone else to topple David Miliband.
  • (13) What selling needs is high visibility, unblinking belief and a capacity to persuade that starts with immediate colleagues – which is why the backbiting sets up such a damaging circle of negativity.
  • (14) The attorney general misled the cabinet – which, in any case, consisted of informal cups of coffee, rubber-stamping, and backbiting.
  • (15) They include surveillance reports, inter-agency information trading, disinformation and backbiting, as well as evidence of infiltration, theft and blackmail.
  • (16) Otherwise, John Ashdown,sends in the ECB job description , one of whose requirements isthe "implementation of a people agenda" - presumably a plan for how backbiting and gossip should work, an essential quality for running English cricket.
  • (17) Straight talk is a style of communication aimed at solving problems--without blaming, defending, bickering, or backbiting.
  • (18) Johnson's second term in city hall often resembles a sort of laissez-faire zoo, over-stocked with backbiters, cronies and cranks.
  • (19) In a profession that is often noted for its backbiting, Jack had an Olympian stature.

Backbiting


Definition:

  • (n.) Secret slander; detraction.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) May told backbench MPs at a summer event that their choice was her or Corbyn as prime minister as she urged them to stop the “backbiting”.
  • (2) Not only would the party’s Stalinist-like discipline compare favourably with the chaos and backbiting that would infect the coalition government, but the Shinners would play it all to their advantage in other ways.” With senior Fianna Fáil personnel baulking at the prospect of a formal coalition government with Fine Gael and remaining on the opposition benches, it appears so far that they will not be gifting any “grand coalition wet dream” to Sinn Féin in the near future.
  • (3) The disarray and anonymous backbiting in the Liberal party is infuriating Abbott loyalists and some in the National party .
  • (4) Alastair Campbell, Blair's former communications director, put it: "You know with absolute certainty that today's broadly loyal minister is tomorrow's bitter and backbiting backbencher."
  • (5) Two sources close to the situation described an atmosphere of sniping and backbiting as Trump loyalists position themselves for key jobs,” the network reported.
  • (6) West paid tribute to his Watch the Throne partner Jay-Z, saying the older rapper had looked out for West and protected him in the backbiting culture of hip-hop.
  • (7) Especially intriguing is the behind-the-scenes backbiting and jockeying for position among Simpson’s “dream team” of lawyers: Robert Shapiro (John Travolta), F Lee Bailey (Nathan Lane), Johnny Cochran (Courtney B Vance) and Alan Dershowitz (Evan Handler).
  • (8) Others said they were an inevitable product of the macho news culture in which he was immersed for almost 40 years - from the newsrooms of local papers to the deserts of his African adventures and the backbiting world of BBC internal politics.
  • (9) The Vatileaks scandals, which led to the jailing of the former pope's butler for passing stolen papers to Italian journalists, exposed a nest of backbiting and financial corruption.
  • (10) The haters and the backbiters have ready-made arguments they love to throw in your face.
  • (11) Amid the financial crisis swirling the chancelleries of Europe and the perennial backbiting about an uncompetitive economy suffering at the hands of cheaper labour in the east the economic premise for the EU is often lost: that over the past 25 years, the single market has made goods cheaper, labour cheaper, and trade more secure and more competitive.
  • (12) When it became apparent that Balls had no hope of winning a contest, mired as he was in the backbiting of the New Labour years, they wanted someone else to topple David Miliband.
  • (13) What selling needs is high visibility, unblinking belief and a capacity to persuade that starts with immediate colleagues – which is why the backbiting sets up such a damaging circle of negativity.
  • (14) The attorney general misled the cabinet – which, in any case, consisted of informal cups of coffee, rubber-stamping, and backbiting.
  • (15) They include surveillance reports, inter-agency information trading, disinformation and backbiting, as well as evidence of infiltration, theft and blackmail.
  • (16) Otherwise, John Ashdown,sends in the ECB job description , one of whose requirements isthe "implementation of a people agenda" - presumably a plan for how backbiting and gossip should work, an essential quality for running English cricket.
  • (17) Straight talk is a style of communication aimed at solving problems--without blaming, defending, bickering, or backbiting.
  • (18) Johnson's second term in city hall often resembles a sort of laissez-faire zoo, over-stocked with backbiters, cronies and cranks.
  • (19) In a profession that is often noted for its backbiting, Jack had an Olympian stature.

Words possibly related to "backbiting"