Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The least bit; an iota.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The smallest part, particle, bit, or degree; a little; a jot, tittle, or iota: often used adverbially, and generally with a negative.
- An obsolete or dialectal form (surviving especially in old compounds, as whitleather, Whitsun, etc.) of white.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The smallest part or particle imaginable; a bit; a jot; an iota; -- generally used in an adverbial phrase in a negative sentence.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The smallest
part orparticle imaginable; aniota .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a tiny or scarcely detectable amount
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word whit.
Examples
-
This is his song, or what answers to a song, but I have seen him when he would do nothing but repeat incessantly a quick trisyllabic call, _whit, whit, whit_; corresponding, I suppose, to the well-known _whit_ with which the phoebe sometimes busies himself in a similar manner.
The Foot-path Way Bradford Torrey 1877
-
The mourning warbler's song, as I heard it, was like this: _Whit whit whit_, _wit wit_.
Birds in the Bush Bradford Torrey 1877
-
John Cusack, equipped with his typical black suit and precision-guided whit, is the assassin, Brand Hauser, who has been hired to take out a high-profile target, Omar Sharif (not the real one).
Kevin's Review: War, Inc. - A Funny Shell Company « FirstShowing.net 2008
-
I was not happy about Wendys comments, although i do agree that whit is not saying "I was a coke/crack addict, so there." but the thing is, everyone deals with shit in their own way and for anyone to attack a person in recovery ... thats shitty of Wendy.
-
If you like, you can read it here, but even if you don’t, and even if no-body reads it at all, that won’t detract a whit from a feeling of personal achievement that will, for me, mark one of the more satisfying of my life.
Writing Maxine 2009
-
Although I do not resile any one whit from the proposition that Labour’s volte-face on of holding a referendum on the EU Constitution is the most dishonourable and dishonest political act since the Munich crisis of 1938 (which at least had the merit of not surrendering us to foreign control), I nonetheless understand what has driven them into this corner.
Archive 2008-01-20 2008
-
Although I do not resile any one whit from the proposition that Labour’s volte-face on of holding a referendum on the EU Constitution is the most dishonourable and dishonest political act since the Munich crisis of 1938 (which at least had the merit of not surrendering us to foreign control), I nonetheless understand what has driven them into this corner.
-
No lesser a whit were the wealth-goods they dight him
The Tale of Beowulf Sometime King of the Folk of the Weder Geats Anonymous
-
See here what is the comfort and privilege of such as are in a justified state; they are washed by Christ, and are clean every whit, that is, they are graciously accepted of God, as if they were so; and, though they offend, yet they need not, upon their repentance, be again put into a justified state, for then should they often be baptized.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume V (Matthew to John) 1721
-
A whit is a little bit, an iota, as in \not a whit\ meaning not at all.
RealClimate 2009
bilby commented on the word whit
"Nor was the American boy of 1870 a whit less cruel than is the American boy of 1920; and he was none the less loath to show that cruelty."
- Edward William Bok, 'The Americanization of Edward Bok'.
September 20, 2009