The police waited for the bank robbers to 'take the bait'. [=to be tricked into doing the thing that would cause them to be trapped or caught]
('chiefly Brit') The interviewer kept asking the politician whether he was lying, and he 'rose to the bait' by getting angry.
She 'baited' the mousetraps with pieces of cheese. = She used cheese to 'bait' the traps.
(..) Pardon me. Well, how do you like it? Even-steven. Pretty surprising, isn't it? Yes. That... business before, when that tall guy, whatshisname, was tryin' to bait me? That doesn't prove anything. I'm a... pretty excitable person. Where does he come off calling me a public avenger, a sadist? Anyone in his right mind would blow his stack. He was just tryin' to bait me. He did an excellent job. I think we're going nowhere here. I'm ready to walk into court and declare a hung jury. - There's no point in this thing going on. (..)1957 12 Angry Men