noun

Food used to entice fish or other animals as prey.

herrings make excellent bait for pike

lure,decoy,fly,troll,jig,plug,teaser

transitive verb

Deliberately annoy or taunt (someone)

the other boys reveled in baiting him about his love of literature

taunt,goad,provoke,pick on,torment,torture,persecute,badger,plague,harry,harass,hound,tease,annoy,irritate,get someone’s back up