Is this your crossword clue?
"bait" is also used as a crossword clue. If that's what you saw, the answer is often decoy (5 letters).
Definitions
harass with persistent criticism or carping
Word origin
From Middle English bayte, bait, beite, from Old Norse beita (“food, bait”), from Proto-Germanic *baitō (“that which is bitten, bait”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to cleave, split, separate”). Cognate with German Beize (“mordant, corrosive fluid; marinade”), Old English bāt (“that which can be bitten, food, bait”). Related to bite.
Used in a sentence
“attach bait to a hook”
“catch a few using bait”
“One of the “girls” used in this way, Pamella Bordes, later spoke of being “part of an enormous group … used as sexual bait.””
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Fishing lure”4 letters
Not quite right?
"Search similar patterns."
B___