batedyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[bated 词源字典]
"In great suspense; very anxiously or excitedly", Late 16th century: from the past participle of obsolete bate 'restrain', from abate. More A shortened form of abated (Middle English), meaning ‘reduced, lessened’. The idea behind the phrase with bated breath is that the anxiety or excitement you experience while waiting for something to happen is so great that you almost stop breathing. The word is sometimes spelled baited, from a mistaken association with a fisherman's bait. It came from the Old French abattre ‘to fell’, from Latin ad ‘to, at’ and batt(u)ere ‘to beat’ which is also the source of abattoir, which to some extent replaced the medieval term slaughterhouse in the early 19th century.[bated etymology, bated origin, 英语词源]