How to Use bait and switch in a Sentence

bait and switch

noun
  • And the best way to beat a bait and switch is a dine and dash!
    — Jen Doll, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2022
  • Throw your real present in this gag gift box for a good bait and switch.
    — Kevin Cortez, Popular Mechanics, 12 Oct. 2022
  • This seems to be the world’s most obvious bait and switch, though.
    — Brendan Quinn, New York Times, 17 May 2026
  • Rather than the bait and switch, better to work on something new, folks.
    — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 4 Jan. 2023
  • What seems to have occurred here is that the app maker pulled off a bait and switch.
    — Andy Meek, BGR, 31 Mar. 2021
  • That is the definition of a bait and switch.
    — Bradley Schnell, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Mar. 2026
  • Democrats worry there's a chance this option is a bait and switch, Grisales says.
    — Brittney Melton, NPR, 3 Oct. 2025
  • But the problem here is that the president is playing a game of bait and switch.
    — Fox News, 24 May 2018
  • This classic bait and switch marked the rise of both Google and Facebook.
    — Joseph Turow, The Conversation, 28 Apr. 2021
  • Many of these concerns are driven by a sense that the past decade was an elaborate bait and switch.
    — Josef Adalian, Vulture, 6 June 2023
  • But the notion of a miserable midlife turns out to be another bait and switch.
    — Lydia Kiesling, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2023
  • Everything was back to normal by the end of the episode, but this was anything but a mere bait and switch.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 14 Mar. 2026
  • But in order to develop that point, Strong began with a bait and switch.
    — Amanda Wicks, The Atlantic, 6 Nov. 2022
  • Some justices might see that as a bait and switch forcing them to address a much bigger question.
    — Dan Berman, CNN, 30 Nov. 2021
  • This bait and switch creates a massive end run around the Fourth Amendment.
    — Elizabeth Goitein, New Republic, 26 Oct. 2017
  • Learning about astrology can sometimes feel like a bait and switch.
    — Madison Feller, ELLE, 6 Sep. 2023
  • There's always the option of this being another bait and switch.
    — Matt Miller, Esquire, 19 Dec. 2017
  • This bait and switch has left me with little motivation to identify and set goals in my new job.
    — Roxane Gay, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2022
  • And therein lies the bait and switch that is the hallmark of the animal rights industry.
    — Chris Dorsey, Forbes, 9 Sep. 2021
  • The bait and switch happened in Act II as the witches arrived.
    — Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Sep. 2022
  • The fake movie would be promoted and then audiences would get the bait and switch of a lifetime in the theater.
    — Zack Sharf, Variety, 25 July 2024
  • The practice, known as 'drip pricing,' is said to be misleading to consumers and akin to bait and switch tactics.
    — Taylor Mims, Billboard, 13 June 2018
  • But to assure the public that the new taxes weren’t some sort of a bait and switch, lawmakers made the new fund’s purpose clear.
    — Kyle Whitmire, al, 6 Apr. 2023
  • It was passed because hundreds of thousands of people are duped into bait and switch contracts with variable rates.
    — Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 6 May 2024
  • From late summer to the start of autumn, actively feeding common carp can also be made to fall for a classic bait and switch.
    — Joanna Klein, New York Times, 4 June 2019
  • The opening minutes of Bones and All are a diabolical bait and switch.
    — A.a. Dowd, Chron, 23 Nov. 2022
  • But that bait and switch was exactly what Hull wanted from Ventimiglia in the character.
    — Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 24 June 2026
  • His responses to our questionnaire — especially on the trash fee bait and switch — were the best of the four candidates.
    — U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 May 2026
  • In the song, and especially in the video, with the Katy Konclusion, what emerges feels like a bait and switch, or really just a switch.
    — Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 18 June 2019
  • But in classic O’Brien fashion, the sincerity turned out to be a bait and switch that gave rise to a bit of absurdist flight of fancy.
    — Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 16 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bait and switch.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: