"unicorn bait" meaning in All languages combined

See unicorn bait on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Audio: En-au-unicorn bait.ogg
Etymology: From the tradition that only a virgin could tame a unicorn, leading hunters to use virgins to lure the legendary beast into being captured. Head templates: {{en-noun|-}} unicorn bait (uncountable)
  1. (slang, humorous) A virgin. Tags: humorous, slang, uncountable Categories (topical): People
    Sense id: en-unicorn_bait-en-noun-LZueXgq6 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
{
  "etymology_text": "From the tradition that only a virgin could tame a unicorn, leading hunters to use virgins to lure the legendary beast into being captured.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "unicorn bait (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1966, David R. Slavitt, Rochelle: or, Virtue Rewarded, Chapman and Hall, published 1966, page 118:",
          "text": "She had turned herself back into a virgin again, with that flair for backwardness of hers. An unusual talent, I thought, but of no particular use - except perhaps in a cat-house, where, by exercising it she might continue to fetch premium prices from customers with a special taste for unicorn bait.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Mercedes Lackey, Fortune's Fool, Luna, →ISBN, page 120:",
          "text": "Who'd marry the Fool? Who'd betroth his daughter to the Fool? The very scorn that made his magic possible also made any kind of a normal life impossible. The only chance to find a woman lay among the magical creatures of the realm…and he wasn't at all sure that he wanted to make that kind of alliance with one of them.\n[…]\nHe stared glumly down at his reflection in the mead, thinking with resignation that he was, in all probability, doomed to live and die as unicorn bait.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, L. J. Smith, The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Shadow Souls, HarperTeen, →ISBN, page 140:",
          "text": "He looked at her, startled and a little disappointed. Then he shrugged. \"Still unicorn bait,\" he said.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A virgin."
      ],
      "id": "en-unicorn_bait-en-noun-LZueXgq6",
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "virgin",
          "virgin"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang, humorous) A virgin."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "humorous",
        "slang",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-unicorn bait.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8d/En-au-unicorn_bait.ogg/En-au-unicorn_bait.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/En-au-unicorn_bait.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "unicorn bait"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "From the tradition that only a virgin could tame a unicorn, leading hunters to use virgins to lure the legendary beast into being captured.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "unicorn bait (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English humorous terms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "en:People"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1966, David R. Slavitt, Rochelle: or, Virtue Rewarded, Chapman and Hall, published 1966, page 118:",
          "text": "She had turned herself back into a virgin again, with that flair for backwardness of hers. An unusual talent, I thought, but of no particular use - except perhaps in a cat-house, where, by exercising it she might continue to fetch premium prices from customers with a special taste for unicorn bait.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Mercedes Lackey, Fortune's Fool, Luna, →ISBN, page 120:",
          "text": "Who'd marry the Fool? Who'd betroth his daughter to the Fool? The very scorn that made his magic possible also made any kind of a normal life impossible. The only chance to find a woman lay among the magical creatures of the realm…and he wasn't at all sure that he wanted to make that kind of alliance with one of them.\n[…]\nHe stared glumly down at his reflection in the mead, thinking with resignation that he was, in all probability, doomed to live and die as unicorn bait.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, L. J. Smith, The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Shadow Souls, HarperTeen, →ISBN, page 140:",
          "text": "He looked at her, startled and a little disappointed. Then he shrugged. \"Still unicorn bait,\" he said.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A virgin."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "virgin",
          "virgin"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang, humorous) A virgin."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "humorous",
        "slang",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-unicorn bait.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8d/En-au-unicorn_bait.ogg/En-au-unicorn_bait.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/En-au-unicorn_bait.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "unicorn bait"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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