Hi all. Where does the expression, ‘I await with baited breath’ come from? Sounds gross. Thank you, Mark.
Not baited, bated breath.
Bated is a (pretty much) lost word, but we still use “unabated”… so if your breath continues unabated, that’s normal… abated breath is breathing that’s arrested or hindered for some reason.
It’s an elegant way of saying holding your breath.
JFGI 
What’s more, we still use “abate”:
*I would go for a walk, but I’m waiting until the rain has abated
*
Possibly sounds a bit old-fashioned, I suppose, but it’s not obsolete.
Abate, and the related terms (like abatement) are still very common in legal terminology.
baited breath - been eating sushi
Yes, “bate” is a verb, now rare except in certain idioms, which means “to moderate or restrain; or to lesson or diminish”.
Seriously? Google is much easier than joining a message board and starting a thread.
It works even if you spell it wrong.
It comes from people who don’t understand the meaning of the original expression “with bated breath.”
It’s an eggcorn.
I could hold my breath for longer than anyone else in school when I was growing up. That’s right, I was a master abater.
I’m wondering if debate, rebate, probate and masturbate all share a common etymology.
My bold
Consider us taught 
I always bait my breath when fishing for compliments.
Check your local dictionary.
"Debate’ does indeed share a common origin with “abate,” re: to beat/defeat.
“Rebate” shares that same origin.
“Probate” shares its origins with “probe,” re: testing.
“Masturbate” is altogether different. This dictionary claims “defilement of the hand” (“manus” + “stuprare”), but with some uncertainty.
You worm!
It’s what a cat has when he has taken a bite of cheese, then lies in wait by a mouse hole.
I can’t believe that I almost fell for that hook, line, and sinker.
Whoops.
You probably missed that lessen.
‘And how many hours a day did you do lessons?’ asked Alice, in a hurry to change the subject.
‘Ten hours the first day,’ said the Mock Turtle: ‘nine the next, and so on.’
‘What a curious plan!’ exclaimed Alice.
‘That’s the reason they’re called lessons,’ the Gryphon remarked: ‘because they lessen from day to day.’
OTOH if he hadn’t, I would not have learned the word ‘eggcorn’.
I think people overestimate how many people actually know how to use Google to answer questions.
Reprobate.