ad-mordĕo, rsum, 2, v. a. (perf. admemordi, Plaut. Aul. Fragm. ap. Gell. 6, 9, 6), to bite at or gnaw, to bite into (cf. accīdo, to cut into).
- I. Lit.: admorso signata in stirpe cicatrix, Verg. G. 2, 379.
So of Cleopatra: bracchia admorsa colubris, Prop. 4, 10, 53.
- II. Fig., of a miser, to bite, i. e. get possession of some of one’s property, to fleece him: lepidum est, triparcos, vetulos bene admordere, Plaut. Pers. 2, 3, 14: jam admordere hunc mihi lubet, i. e. aggredi et ab eo aliquid corradere, id. Ps. 4, 7, 24.