fish or cut bait
To make a decision, especially after a period of delayTo make a decision, especially after a period of delay; to either take action now or forgo the opportunity.
» It's hard to catch fish without bait.
Ohne Köder Fische fangen ist schwer. — raggione
Трудно поймать рыбу без наживки. — odexed
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(idiomatic)To make a decision, especially after a period of delay; to either take action now or forgo the opportunity.
It's time to fish or cut bait: either we buy this house now, or we must start looking for another one.
Examples
6 sentencesIt's hard to catch fish without bait.
ruТрудно поймать рыбу без наживки. — odexed
deOhne Köder Fische fangen ist schwer. — raggione
It's now time to fish or cut bait.
deWir müssen jetzt Nägel mit Köpfen machen. — Waldelfe
Fish or cut bait.
If you want to stay a member of this club, you have to fish or cut bait.
He kept complaining so much, without doing anything to help, that I finally had to tell him to fish or cut bait.
Forms
fishes or cuts bait, fishing or cutting bait, fished or cut bait, fished or cut bait| Base form | fish or cut bait · to fish or cut bait |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | fishes or cuts bait |
| Present participle | fishing or cutting bait |
| Past simple | fished or cut bait |
| Past participle | fished or cut bait |
irregular
Lessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.