bearbaiting means A blood sport in which dogs are set upon a chained bear. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 91 out of 100.
Why “bearbaiting” is a great word
BEARBAITING — [Noun] A blood sport in which a chained bear is attacked by dogs for public entertainment. From Middle English 'bere baityng', equivalent to 'bear' (the animal) + 'baiting' (the act of setting dogs upon an animal for sport). First recorded in 1580–90. Unlike "bullbaiting," which pits dogs against a different, goring beast, or "bear hunting," a pursuit across wild terrain, bearbaiting is a spectacle of enforced confinement. It is the roar of the tethered animal swallowed by the canine cacophony, the spray of sawdust and blood in a circular pit, and the dull weight of the chain that makes a monster a prisoner—a theater where cruelty is the only drama, performed until both terror and applause grow mechanical.
noun
- A blood sport in which dogs are set upon a chained bear“But bearbaiting, then a favourite diversion of high and low, was the abomination which most strongly stirred the wrath of the austere sectaries.”
- A bloodthirsty free for all.“All of these pivoted on the larger Problems: Not only how the press should discuss sexual morality of public officials but whether this ever should be a measure of fitness for public office; not only how the local press will allow its judgment to be pre-empted or conditioned by the Washington press, but also how news judgments, always contagious, can degenerate into bear baiting.”