Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To be the proper size and shape for.
- intransitive verb To cause to be the proper size and shape.
- intransitive verb To measure for proper size.
- intransitive verb To be appropriate to; suit.
- intransitive verb To be in conformity or agreement with.
- intransitive verb To make suitable; adapt: synonym: adapt.
- intransitive verb To make ready; prepare.
- intransitive verb To equip; outfit.
- intransitive verb To provide a place or time for.
- intransitive verb To insert or adjust so as to be properly in place.
- intransitive verb To be the proper size and shape.
- intransitive verb To be suited; belong.
- intransitive verb To be in harmony; agree.
- adjective Suited, adapted, or acceptable for a given circumstance or purpose.
- adjective Appropriate; proper.
- adjective Physically sound; healthy.
- adjective Biology Able to survive and produce viable offspring in a particular environment
- noun The state, quality, or way of being fitted.
- noun The manner in which clothing fits.
- noun The degree of precision with which surfaces are adjusted or adapted to each other in a machine or collection of parts.
- idiom (fit to be tied) Roused to great anger or indignation; outraged.
- idiom (fit to kill) To an extreme or elaborate degree.
- noun A seizure or convulsion, especially one caused by epilepsy.
- noun The sudden appearance of a symptom such as coughing or sneezing.
- noun A sudden outburst of emotion.
- noun A sudden period of vigorous activity.
- idiom (by/in) With irregular intervals of action and inaction; intermittently.
- noun A section of a poem or ballad.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A struggle; a short period of active physical exertion.
- noun An attack of convulsive disease; a muscular convulsion, often with loss of self-control and consciousness; spasm; specifically, an epileptic attack.
- noun The invasion, exacerbation, or paroxysm of disease, or of any physical disturbance, coming suddenly or by abrupt transition: as, a fit of the gout; a fit of colic, of coughing, or of sneezing; a cold or a hot fit in intermittent fever.
- noun A more or less sudden and transient manifestation of emotion or feeling of any kind, as of passion (anger), grief, laughter, laziness, etc.; usually, a manifestation of violent emotion; a paroxysm; a “spell.”
- noun A sudden impulse toward effort, activity, or motion, followed by an interval of relaxation; impulsive and intermittent action: as, he will do it now that the fit is on him; to have a fit of work.
- noun A caprice; capricious or irregular action or movement.
- noun A stroke.
- noun A song, ballad, or story; a division of a song, ballad, or story.
- noun A foot; a step.
- A dialectal preterit and past participle of fight.
- To force or wrench, as by a fit or convulsion.
- Great; long: as, a fit time; a fit deal of trouble.
- To make fit or suitable; adapt; bring into a corresponding form or a conformable condition: as, to
fit a coat or gown to the figure; to fit a key to a lock; to fit the mind to one's circumstances. - To accommodate with anything suitable; furnish with what is fit or appropriate as to size, shape, etc.: as, to
fit one with a coat or a pair of shoes. - To prepare; furnish with what is proper or necessary; equip; make ready; qualify: as, to
fit a ship for a long voyage; to fit one's self for a journey; to fit a student for college. - To be properly adjusted or adapted to; be suitable for as to size, form, character, qualification, etc.; suit: as, the coat exactly fits you; he fits his place well.
- To be proper for; be in keeping with; become; befit.
- Synonyms To adjust.
- To equip, provide.
- To be fit, suitable, becoming, seemly, or proper.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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
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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Likewise has been accepted its law of development: _That_, _in the struggle for existence_, _the strong and fit and the progeny of the strong and fit have a better opportunity for survival than the weak and less fit and the progeny of the weak and less fit_.
War of the Classes Jack London 1896
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Cathari ought not to be put to death after an ecclesiastical trial, lest the Church be compromised: "_Illud ab eo fit, cujus auctoritate fit_," he said, to justify his recommendation. [
The Inquisition A Critical and Historical Study of the Coercive Power of the Church 1888
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Aditi Kinkhabwala of The Wall Street Journal took a closer look at recent seasons when the Giants were said to have "collapsed" and determined that the label fit only for 2010 and 2006.
NYT > Home Page By TONI MONKOVIC 2011
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Now everything I had left to my name fit neatly into two weathered brown suitcases, which I had to borrow, no less, from a friend across the hall, because the thieves had efficiently used my own suitcases to haul away my things.
Powdered Sugar on Bare Skin Jerry Ratch 2011
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The nickname fit better than the kids, or Luke himself, could know.
Yellow Dirt Judy Pasternak 2010
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Puts new meaning into the term fit for office -- Suzanne?
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I'm too shabby, puts new meaning into the term fit for office.
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And also if it's bible related wouldn't the title fit more of a Revelations ordeal?
Monstrous Poster - High Res Dennis 2007
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Tr'Annhwi was standing in the doorway wearing an expression fit to curdle milk, and the tall shape of Commander t'Radaik was right beside him.
The Romulan Way Diane Duane 2000
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Tr'Annhwi was standing in the doorway wearing an expression fit to curdle milk, and the tall shape of Commander t'Radaik was right beside him.
The Romulan Way Diane Duane 2000
oroboros commented on the word fit
Contronymic in the sense: accord vs. discord.
January 27, 2007
garyth123 commented on the word fit
In Doric fit means "what". It can also mean foot (Scots), and by extension shoe. And it can have its usual meaning in English. Therefore it is perfectly feasible that you may hear the following sentence uttered (and understood) in a shoe shop in the Aberdeenshire area:
Fit fit fits fit fit?
January 15, 2009
garyth123 commented on the word fit
The Scottish folk group Old Blind Dogs come from the North East of Scotland. They have a CD entitled "Fit?", which in Doric would mean "What?" (perhaps an exasperated "What?"). When I was viewing the Amazon page for "Fit?" once they were also trying to sell me aerobic fitness dvds, leotards, books on fitness etc. Most amusing.
January 16, 2009
reesetee commented on the word fit
Funny. That's pretty much how I respond when someone wants me to buy aerobic fitness materials. ;-)
January 16, 2009
huntch commented on the word fit
Definition 28 (noun Archaic A section of a poem or ballad.) is not really archaic having been still familiar from Lewis Carrol 'Hunting of the Snark' and rejuvenated for many by Douglas Adams 'Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy'.
September 19, 2009
hernesheir commented on the word fit
Obsolete term for a canto or division of a long poem. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the famous 14th century English poem, is divided into 4 fits.
September 19, 2009