With the ball in his hand and the bit between his teeth, he had a point to prove.

BBC: Collingwood suffers injury worry

I've got the bit between my teeth, that edge about me and I'm well ready for a world title shot.

BBC: Classy Moore wins European crown

No doubt having received some harsh words at half-time from Mancini, City came out for the second with the bit between their teeth and produced the game's standout goalscoring opportunity.

BBC: Man City 0-0 Birmingham

"It's a business problem - and people really have to take the bit between their teeth, " says Ray Muller, business consulting manager for CSSL, a Hong Kong-based reseller of IBM mainframes that will soon launch a consulting division to offer clients solutions to their Year 2000 problems.

CNN: Tick Tock Goes the Clock

When I finally surfaced, I got hold of my surfboard and hastily bit the fishing line with my teeth, leaving my lure to the sea.

FORBES: Paradise Lost

Early versions would have amounted to little more than a few ropes and perhaps a bit, held between the horses' teeth.

FORBES

She smiled determinedly, even a bit frantically, her lips stretched over perhaps bad teeth.

NEWYORKER: Free Radicals