Once bitten twice shy?

[Bobik]

Test No. incompl/advan-62 "Bite, Bit, Bitten", question 1

She certainly won't invest in that company again having lost a fortune - it's a case of once bitten twice
..........

(a) nervous
(b) coy
(c) shy
(d) reserved

Test No. incompl/advan-62 "Bite, Bit, Bitten", answer 1

She certainly won't invest in that company again having lost a fortune - it's a case of once bitten twice shy.

Correct answer: (c) shy
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What does bitten mean ?

[Torsten]

Hi Bobik,

The word bitten is the past participle of the verb to bite.
For example:

Last night I was bitten by a huge mosquito.

In the sentence you are referring to the phrase once bitten twice shy is an idiom which means that a person who has had a bad experience one time will be more cautious the next time.
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