champ at the bit

English

Etymology

From champ (verb) (“to chew noisily”) + bit (“part of horse's harness held in its mouth”); horses tend to chew their bits when impatient with waiting.

Pronunciation

Audio (Australia): (file)

Verb

champ at the bit (third-person singular simple present champs at the bit, present participle champing at the bit, simple past and past participle champed at the bit)

(intransitive, equestrianism) To bite the bit, especially when restless.
(intransitive, figurative, of a person) To show impatience or frustration when delayed.
- 2001 October 1, Byron Spice, “Pittsburgh supercomputer is complete, and scientists are champing at the bit to use it”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‎^[1], archived from the original on 27 January 2006:
  Pittsburgh supercomputer is complete, and scientists are champing at the bit to use it [title]
- 2006 May 14, “Ideas with wings, a radio series supporting innovation”, in Australian Broadcasting Corporation‎^[2], archived from the original on 5 February 2010:
  Everyone is champing at the bit to be labelled innovative.
- 2006 May 14, Al Rosenquist, “Anglers champing at the bit”, in Sawyer County Record‎^[3]:
  We had quite a few people in last weekend. They’re champing at the bit, ready to go.
- 2026 June 13, Alice Fisher, quoting Shiv Malik, “Can robots build new towns?”, in FT Weekend (House & Home section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1:
  “We've been told by the biggest developers in the country that this is impossible,” he says. “We're champing at the bit to prove them all wrong.”