Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various small insectivorous songbirds of the family Paridae of woodland areas, especially those of Eurasia and Africa.
- noun Any of various similar birds.
- noun Vulgar Slang A woman's breast.
- noun A teat.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One of several small birds.
- noun In mech., a round projection on a tool or other piece to serve as a guide. A tit is usually made on the end of a counterbore, so that the hole made by it shall be concentric with the hole which it is desired to enlarge.
- noun A small or poor horse.
- noun A child; a girl; a young woman: a depreciatory term.
- noun A bit; morsel.
- noun An abbreviation of title; [capitalized] of Titus (a book of the New Testament).
- noun A teat. See
teat . - To pull tightly.
- noun In the phrase tit for tat (literally, in the original form tip for tap, ‘blow for blow’), a retaliatory return; an equivalent by way of repartee or answer: as, to give a person tit for tat in a dispute or a war of wit.
- noun A pull.
- A Middle English variant of
tite .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A small horse.
- noun A woman; -- used in contempt.
- noun A morsel; a bit.
- noun Any one of numerous species of small singing birds belonging to the families
Paridæ andLeiotrichidæ ; a titmouse. - noun The European meadow pipit; a titlark.
- noun (Zoöl.) See Wren tit, under
Wren . - noun (Zoöl.) any one of numerous species of Asiatic singing birds belonging to Siva, Milna, and allied genera.
- noun (Zoöl.) any one of several species of small East Indian and Asiatic timaline birds of the genus Trichastoma.
- noun An equivalent; retaliation.
- noun (Zoöl.) any one of numerous species of Asiatic and East Indian birds belonging to Suthora and allied genera. In some respects they are intermediate between the thrushes and titmice.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun archaic A light
blow orhit (now usually in phrasetit for tat ). - noun A small
passerine bird of the genusParus or the familyParidae , common in the northern hemisphere. - noun Any of various other small
passerine birds. - noun archaic A small
horse ; anag . - noun archaic A young
girl , later especially aminx ,hussy . - noun A
mammary gland ,teat . - noun slang, vulgar A woman's
breast . - noun UK, pejorative, slang An
idiot ; afool .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun either of two soft fleshy milk-secreting glandular organs on the chest of a woman
- noun small insectivorous birds
- noun the small projection of a mammary gland
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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One approach for the Right is to engage in tit for tat.
From Galbraith to Spitzer, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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There exists a "bad equilibrium" in tit-for-tat, wherein once someone has transgressed, one party has to be willing to take a short-term loss relative to the other party to re-establish trust.
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In an effort to avert a possible trade war that could damage the global economic recovery, the Group of 20 members also pledged not to engage in tit-for-tat currency devaluations.
Global Financial Policy Makers Agree to IMF Reform, Currency Pledge 2010
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In an effort to avert a possible trade war that could damage the global economic recovery, the Group of 20 members also pledged not to engage in tit-for-tat currency devaluations.
Global Financial Policy Makers Agree to IMF Reform, Currency Pledge 2010
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If Obama supporters are going to engage in tit for tat ping pong arguments and insults, believe me it will get nowhere. republicans are better at that!
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The Somalis on the CIA payroll engaged in tit-for-tat exchanges of kidnappings and assassinations with extremists.
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I recently read Axelrod's "Evolution of Cooperation" and was struck by how effective a long term tit-for-tat strategy would be politically.
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This strategy is usually called tit-for-tat: You scratch my back, I scratch yours; you don't scratch my back, I don't scratch yours.
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He is focused on winning the long game not short term tit for tat.
Obama Took Heat Early On For Being Too Soft On Hillary, Remember? 2009
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At the same time, the number of Iraqis found slain, apparently in tit-for-tat killings by Shiite and Sunni extremists, has sharply increased in western neighborhoods.
reesetee commented on the word tit
The bird, you pervert. ;-)
February 13, 2007
vanishedone commented on the word tit
Or for tat?
Edit: hang on; we didn't have WeirdNet nine months ago, since I arrived before it did and that wasn't so long ago; so it just looks as though reesetee was answering the definition. A spectacular pre-WeirdNetting.
November 29, 2007
bilby commented on the word tit
Soft? Fleshy? What on earth are they used for?
November 30, 2007
reesetee commented on the word tit
Thanks, VO--I was probably anticipating a flurry of delightful wisecracks from other Wordies. I do like the phrase "spectacular pre-WeirdNetting," though. :-)
Bilby, that hurts just thinking about it.
November 30, 2007
bilby commented on the word tit
Etymology online:
tit (n.2)
1540s, a word used for any small animal or object (as in compound forms such as titmouse, tomtit, etc.); also used of small horses. Similar words in related senses are found in Scandinavian (Icelandic tittr, Norwegian tita "a little bird"), but the connection and origin are obscure; perhaps, as OED suggests, the word is merely suggestive of something small. Used figuratively of persons after 1734, but earlier for "a girl or young woman" (1590s), often in deprecatory sense of "a hussy, minx."
March 20, 2018
bilby commented on the word tit
Minx alert!
March 20, 2018
qms commented on the word tit
There’s many a callow young wit
Who,watching one flutter and flit,
Has spread titillation
And naughty elation
Announcing his love of a tit.
March 20, 2018
bilby commented on the word tit
*titters*
March 20, 2018