Adjacent Words

Hit definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HIT, v.t. pret. and pp. hit.
1. To strike or touch, either with or without force. We hit a thing with the finger, or with the head; a cannon ball hits a mast, or a wall.
2. To strike or touch, either with or without force. We hit a thing with the finger, or with the head; a cannon ball hits a mast, or a wall.
The archers hit him. 2 Samuel 31.
3. To reach; to attain to.
Birds learning tunes, and their endeavors to hit the notes right--
4. To suit; to be conformable.
--Melancholy,
Whose saintly visage is too bright
To hit the sense of human sight.
5. To strike; to touch properly; to offer the right bait.
There you hit him--that argument never fails with him.
To hit off, to strike out; to determine luckily.
1. To represent or describe exactly.
To hit out, to perform by good luck. [Little used.]
HIT, v.i. To strike; to meet or come in contact; to clash; followed by against or on.
If bodies be mere extension, how can they move and hit one against another.
Corpuscles meeting with or hitting on those bodies, become conjoined with them.
1. To meet or fall on by good luck; to succeed by accident; not to miss.
And oft it hits
Where hope is coldest, and despair most fits.
2. To strike or reach the intended point; to succeed.
And millions miss for one that hits.
To hit on or upon, to light on; to come to or fall on by chance; to meet or find, as by accident.
None of them hit upon the art.
HIT, n. A striking against; the collision of one body against another; the stroke or blow that touches any thing.
So he the famed Cilician fencer prais'd,
And at each hit with wonder seems amaz'd.
1. A chance; a casual event; as a lucky hit.
2. A lucky chance; a fortunate event.
3. A term in back-gammon. Three hits are equal to a gammon.
HIT, v.i.
1. To move by jerks, or with stops; as, in colloquial language, to hitch along.
Whoe'er offends, at some unlucky time
Slides in a verse, or hitches in a rhyme.
2. To become entangled; to be caught or hooked.
3. To hit the legs together in going, as horses. [Not used in the U. States.]
4. To hop; to spring on one leg. [Local.]
5. To move or walk.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (baseball) a successful stroke in an athletic contest (especially in baseball); "he came all the way around on Williams' hit"
2: the act of contacting one thing with another; "repeated hitting raised a large bruise"; "after three misses she finally got a hit" [syn: hit, hitting, striking]
3: a conspicuous success; "that song was his first hit and marked the beginning of his career"; "that new Broadway show is a real smasher"; "the party went with a bang" [syn: hit, smash, smasher, strike, bang]
4: (physics) a brief event in which two or more bodies come together; "the collision of the particles resulted in an exchange of energy and a change of direction" [syn: collision, hit]
5: a dose of a narcotic drug
6: a murder carried out by an underworld syndicate; "it has all the earmarks of a Mafia hit"
7: a connection made via the internet to another website; "WordNet gets many hits from users worldwide" v
1: cause to move by striking; "hit a ball"
2: hit against; come into sudden contact with; "The car hit a tree"; "He struck the table with his elbow" [syn: hit, strike, impinge on, run into, collide with] [ant: miss]
3: deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument; "He hit her hard in the face"
4: reach a destination, either real or abstract; "We hit Detroit by noon"; "The water reached the doorstep"; "We barely made it to the finish line"; "I have to hit the MAC machine before the weekend starts" [syn: reach, make, attain, hit, arrive at, gain]
5: affect or afflict suddenly, usually adversely; "We were hit by really bad weather"; "He was stricken with cancer when he was still a teenager"; "The earthquake struck at midnight" [syn: hit, strike]
6: hit with a missile from a weapon [syn: shoot, hit, pip]
7: encounter by chance; "I stumbled across a long-lost cousin last night in a restaurant" [syn: stumble, hit]
8: gain points in a game; "The home team scored many times"; "He hit a home run"; "He hit .300 in the past season" [syn: score, hit, tally, rack up]
9: cause to experience suddenly; "Panic struck me"; "An interesting idea hit her"; "A thought came to me"; "The thought struck terror in our minds"; "They were struck with fear" [syn: hit, strike, come to]
10: make a strategic, offensive, assault against an enemy, opponent, or a target; "The Germans struck Poland on Sept. 1, 1939"; "We must strike the enemy's oil fields"; "in the fifth inning, the Giants struck, sending three runners home to win the game 5 to 2" [syn: strike, hit]
11: kill intentionally and with premeditation; "The mafia boss ordered his enemies murdered" [syn: murder, slay, hit, dispatch, bump off, off, polish off, remove]
12: drive something violently into a location; "he hit his fist on the table"; "she struck her head on the low ceiling" [syn: hit, strike]
13: reach a point in time, or a certain state or level; "The thermometer hit 100 degrees"; "This car can reach a speed of 140 miles per hour" [syn: reach, hit, attain]
14: produce by manipulating keys or strings of musical instruments, also metaphorically; "The pianist strikes a middle C"; "strike `z' on the keyboard"; "her comments struck a sour note" [syn: strike, hit]
15: consume to excess; "hit the bottle"
16: hit the intended target or goal
17: pay unsolicited and usually unwanted sexual attention to; "He tries to hit on women in bars"

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (hit; hitting) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hyttan, probably from Old Norse hitta to meet with, hit Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. a. to reach with or as if with a blow b. to come in contact with <the ball hit the window> c. to strike (as a ball) with an object (as a bat, club, or racket) so as to impart or redirect motion 2. a. to cause to come into contact b. to deliver (as a blow) by action c. to apply forcefully or suddenly <hit the brakes> 3. to affect especially detrimentally <farmers hit by drought> 4. to make a request of <hit his friend for 10 dollars> — often used with up 5. to discover or meet especially by chance 6. a. to accord with ; suit b. reach, attain <prices hit a new high> c. to arrive or appear at, in, or on <hit town> <the best time to hit the stores> d. of fish to bite at or on e. to reflect accurately <hit the right note> f. to reach or strike (as a target) especially for a score in a game or contest <couldn't seem to hit the basket> g. bat 2b 7. to indulge in excessively <hit the bottle> 8. to deal another card to (as in blackjack) intransitive verb 1. a. to strike a blow b. to arrive with a forceful effect like that of a blow <the storm hit> 2. a. to come into contact with something b. attack c. of a fish strike 11b d. bat 1 3. to succeed in attaining or coming up with something — often used with on or upon <hit on a solution> 4. obsolete to be in agreement ; suit 5. of an internal combustion engine to fire the charge in the cylinders • hitter noun II. noun Date: 15th century 1. an act or instance of hitting or being hit <more hits than misses> 2. a. a stroke of luck b. a great success 3. a telling or critical remark 4. base hit 5. a quantity of a drug ingested at one time 6. a premeditated murder committed especially by a member of a crime syndicate 7. an instance of connecting to a particular Web site <a million hits per day> 8. a successful match in a search (as of a computer database or the Internet) • hitless adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. (hitting; past and past part. hit) 1 tr. a strike with a blow or a missile. b (of a moving body) strike (the plane hit the ground). c reach (a target, a person, etc.) with a directed missile (hit the window with the ball). 2 tr. cause to suffer or affect adversely; wound (the loss hit him hard). 3 intr. (often foll. by at, against, upon) direct a blow. 4 tr. (often foll. by against, on) knock (a part of the body) (hit his head on the door-frame). 5 tr. light upon; get at (a thing aimed at) (he's hit the truth at last; tried to hit the right tone in his apology) (see hit on). 6 tr. colloq. a encounter (hit a snag). b arrive at (hit an all-time low; hit the town). c indulge in, esp. liquor etc. (hit the bottle). 7 tr. esp. US sl. rob or kill. 8 tr. occur forcefully to (the seriousness of the situation only hit him later). 9 tr. Sport a propel (a ball etc.) with a bat etc. to score runs or points. b score (runs etc.) in this way. c (usu. foll. by for) strike (a ball or a bowler) for so many runs (hit him for six). 10 tr. represent exactly. --n. 1 a a blow; a stroke. b a collision. 2 a shot etc. that hits its target. 3 colloq. a popular success in entertainment. 4 a stroke of sarcasm, wit, etc. 5 a stroke of good luck. 6 esp. US sl. a a murder or other violent crime. b a drug injection etc. 7 a successful attempt. Phrases and idioms: hit and run cause (accidental or wilful) damage and escape or leave the scene before being discovered. hit-and-run attrib.adj. relating to or (of a person) committing an act of this kind. hit back retaliate. hit below the belt 1 esp. Boxing give a foul blow. 2 treat or behave unfairly. hit for six Brit. defeat in argument. hit the hay (or sack) colloq. go to bed. hit the headlines see HEADLINE. hit home make a salutary impression. hit it off (often foll. by with, together) agree or be congenial. hit list sl. a list of prospective victims. hit man (pl. hit men) sl. a hired assassin. hit the nail on the head state the truth exactly. hit on (or upon) find (what is sought), esp. by chance. hit-or-miss aimed or done carelessly. hit out deal vigorous physical or verbal blows (hit out at her enemies). hit-out n. Austral. sl. a brisk gallop. hit parade colloq. a list of the current best-selling records of popular music. hit the road (US trail) sl. depart. hit the roof see ROOF. hit up Cricket score (runs) energetically. hit wicket Cricket be out by striking the wicket with the bat etc. make a hit (usu. foll. by with) be successful or popular. Derivatives: hitter n. Etymology: ME f. OE hittan f. ON hitta meet with, of unkn. orig.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hit Hit, pron. It. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hit Hit, 3d pers. sing. pres. of Hide, contracted from hideth. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hit Hit, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hit; p. pr. & vb. n. Hitting.] [OE. hitten, hutten, of Scand. origin; cf. Dan. hitte to hit, find, Sw. & Icel. hitta.] 1. To reach with a stroke or blow; to strike or touch, usually with force; especially, to reach or touch (an object aimed at). I think you have hit the mark. --Shak. 2. To reach or attain exactly; to meet according to the occasion; to perform successfully; to attain to; to accord with; to be conformable to; to suit. Birds learning tunes, and their endeavors to hit the notes right. --Locke. There you hit him; . . . that argument never fails with him. --Dryden. Whose saintly visage is too bright To hit the sense of human sight. --Milton. He scarcely hit my humor. --Tennyson. 3. To guess; to light upon or discover. ``Thou hast hit it.'' --Shak. 4. (Backgammon) To take up, or replace by a piece belonging to the opposing player; -- said of a single unprotected piece on a point. To hit off, to describe with quick characteristic strokes; as, to hit off a speaker. --Sir W. Temple. To hit out, to perform by good luck. [Obs.] --Spenser.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hit Hit, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hit; p. pr. & vb. n. Hitting.] [OE. hitten, hutten, of Scand. origin; cf. Dan. hitte to hit, find, Sw. & Icel. hitta.] 1. To reach with a stroke or blow; to strike or touch, usually with force; especially, to reach or touch (an object aimed at). I think you have hit the mark. --Shak. 2. To reach or attain exactly; to meet according to the occasion; to perform successfully; to attain to; to accord with; to be conformable to; to suit. Birds learning tunes, and their endeavors to hit the notes right. --Locke. There you hit him; . . . that argument never fails with him. --Dryden. Whose saintly visage is too bright To hit the sense of human sight. --Milton. He scarcely hit my humor. --Tennyson. 3. To guess; to light upon or discover. ``Thou hast hit it.'' --Shak. 4. (Backgammon) To take up, or replace by a piece belonging to the opposing player; -- said of a single unprotected piece on a point. To hit off, to describe with quick characteristic strokes; as, to hit off a speaker. --Sir W. Temple. To hit out, to perform by good luck. [Obs.] --Spenser.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hit Hit, v. i. 1. To meet or come in contact; to strike; to clash; -- followed by against or on. If bodies be extension alone, how can they move and hit one against another? --Locke. Corpuscles, meeting with or hitting on those bodies, become conjoined with them. --Woodward. 2. To meet or reach what was aimed at or desired; to succeed, -- often with implied chance, or luck. And oft it hits Where hope is coldest and despair most fits. --Shak. And millions miss for one that hits. --Swift. To hit on or upon, to light upon; to come to by chance. ``None of them hit upon the art.'' --Addison.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hit Hit, n. 1. A striking against; the collision of one body against another; the stroke that touches anything. So he the famed Cilician fencer praised, And, at each hit, with wonder seems amazed. --Dryden. 2. A stroke of success in an enterprise, as by a fortunate chance; as, he made a hit. What late he called a blessing, now was wit, And God's good providence, a lucky hit. --Pope.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(hits, hitting) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. Note: The form 'hit' is used in the present tense and is the past and present participle. 1. If you hit someone or something, you deliberately touch them with a lot of force, with your hand or an object held in your hand. Find the exact grip that allows you to hit the ball hard... Police at the scene said Dr Mahgoub had been hit several times in the head. = strike VERB: V n, V n 2. When one thing hits another, it touches it with a lot of force. The car had apparently hit a traffic sign before skidding out of control... = strike VERB: V n 3. If a bomb or missile hits its target, it reaches it. The hospital had been hit with heavy artillery fire. VERB: V n • Hit is also a noun. First a house took a direct hit and then the rocket exploded. N-COUNT 4. If something hits a person, place, or thing, it affects them very badly. (JOURNALISM) The plan to charge motorists £75 a year to use the motorway is going to hit me hard... About two-hundred people died in the earthquake which hit northern Peru... VERB: V n, V n 5. When a feeling or an idea hits you, it suddenly affects you or comes into your mind. It hit me that I had a choice... Then the answer hit me. It had been staring me in the face. VERB: it V n that, V n 6. If you hit a particular high or low point on a scale of something such as success or health, you reach it. (JOURNALISM) Oil prices hit record levels yesterday. VERB: V n 7. If a CD, film, or play is a hit, it is very popular and successful. The song became a massive hit in 1945. ? flop N-COUNT: oft N n 8. A hit is a single visit to a website. (COMPUTING) Our small company has had 78,000 hits on its Internet pages. N-COUNT 9. If someone who is searching for information on the Internet gets a hit, they find a website where there is that information. N-COUNT 10. If two people hit it off, they like each other and become friendly as soon as they meet. (INFORMAL) They hit it off straight away, Daddy and Walter... PHRASE: V inflects, pl-n PHR, PHR with n 11. to hit the headlines: see headline to hit home: see home to hit the nail on the head: see nail to hit the road: see road to hit the roof: see roof

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Strike, strike against. 2. Attain, reach, gain, win, secure. 3. Suit, fit, accord with, be conformable to, be suitable to. II. v. n. 1. Clash, collide, come in contact, strike together. 2. Succeed, be successful, be crowned with success, come off successful, carry the point, gain the point. III. n. 1. Stroke, blow, collision. 2. Chance, venture, fortune, hazard. 3. Happy remark, apt expression. 4. Lucky venture, good stroke, happy stroke.

Foolish Dictionary

A chance for first place, first base or first blood.

Moby Thesaurus

Grand Guignol, Passion play, Tom show, accomplish, accord, achieve, adverse criticism, affect, agree, ambush, animadversion, answer to, antimasque, antitoxin, approach, arrest the thoughts, arrive, arrive at, arrive in, aspersion, assail, assault, assent, assort with, attack, attain, attain to, audience success, bad notices, bad press, bag, ballad, ballet, bang, bang into, bash, bat, be consistent, be of one, be received, be uniform with, beating, beg, belt, best seller, biff, big hit, blast, blitz, blot out, blow, blow in, bob up, bomb, bonk, booster, booster dose, booster shot, brilliant success, broadcast drama, brush, brush by, buffet, bum, bump, bump into, bump off, burlesque show, bushwhack, cadge, cannon, captiousness, caress, carom, carom into, carping, catch, catch the thoughts, cavil, caviling, censoriousness, chance, charade, charge, check, check in, chime, chop, clap, clash, cliff hanger, clip, clip off, clobber, clock in, closet drama, clout, clump, cock, cohere, coincide, coldcock, collide, come, come at, come down on, come home to, come in, come in contact, come into collision, come to, come to hand, comedy drama, concur, concuss, conform, conform with, confront each other, conk, consist with, contact, cooperate, correspond, crack, crack down on, crack up, crash, crash into, critical success, criticism, criticize, croak, crump, crunch, cuff, cut, cut and thrust, dash, dash into, daytime serial, deal, deal a blow, deck, descend on, descend upon, descry, detect, determine, detonate, dialogue, dig, ding, dint, discharge, discover, do, do in, documentary drama, dose, dovetail, draft, drama, dramalogue, dramatic play, dramatic series, drop, dropping, drub, drubbing, drug packet, drumming, duodrama, duologue, eject, encounter, epic theater, erase, espy, exception, experimental theater, extravaganza, fad, failure, fall foul of, fall in together, fall on, fall upon, faultfinding, feint, fell, fetch, fetch a blow, fetch up at, find, find out, fire, fire off, fit together, fix, flail at, flail away at, flak, flop, foul, fusillade, gain, gang up on, gas, gasser, get, get in, get there, get to, give the business, giveaway, glance, go, go at, go for, go together, go with, goal, grab, grand slam, graze, great success, gun, gun down, gun for, hairsplitting, hang together, happening, harmonize, harry, have at, hit a clip, hit against, hit at, hit like lightning, hit show, hit the mark, hit town, hit tune, hit up, hold together, hole, hole in one, home run, home thrust, homer, hostile criticism, hunt down, hurt, hurtle, hypercriticalness, hypercriticism, hypodermic, hypodermic injection, ice, impinge, impress, impress forcibly, improvisational drama, imputation, injection, inoculation, interlock, intersect, invent, jab, jet injection, jibe, jump, killing, kiss, knock, knock against, knock cold, knock down, knock out, land on, lash out at, lay at, lay hands on, lay into, lay out, legitimate drama, let drive at, let fly, let fly at, let have it, let off, lick, light, light into, light music, load, locate, lock, luck, lunge at, mainlining, make, make an impression, make it, masque, match, meet, meet with, melodrama, meteoric success, minstrel show, miracle, miracle play, momentary success, monodrama, monologue, mooch, morality, morality play, mug, music drama, musical revue, mystery, mystery play, nagging, nail, narcotic injection, narcotic shot, niggle, niggling, nit, nit-picking, nudge, obloquy, off, opera, osculate, overcriticalness, overdose, overlap, pageant, pan, panel show, panhandle, pantomime, parallel, pass the hat, paste, pastoral, pastoral drama, pelt, pepper, percuss, pestering, pettifogging, pick off, piece, pistol, pitch into, play, playlet, plug, plunk, poke, poke at, polish off, pop, pop music, pop up, popping, popular music, popular song, portion, pot, potion, potshoot, potshot, pound, priggishness, prime, problem play, psychodrama, pull in, punch, punch in, quibble, quibbling, quiz show, radio drama, rap, reach, rediscover, reflection, register, register with, reproachfulness, resounding triumph, respond to, review, revue, riddle, ring in, riot, roaring success, rock, roll in, rub, rub out, run down, run into, run to earth, sail into, score, scrape, scrounge, sensation, sensational play, serial, set on, set upon, settle, shave, shoot, shoot at, shoot down, shooting up, shot, show, show up, sideswipe, sign in, sing in chorus, sink in, sitcom, situation comedy, sketch, skim, skin-popping, skirt, skit, slam, slam into, slog, slosh, slug, smack, smack into, smash, smash hit, smash into, smash up, smite, snap, snipe, snipe at, soak, soap, soap opera, sociodrama, sock, song hit, sort with, spectacle, spot, square, square with, squeak by, stage play, stage show, stand together, straight drama, stricture, strike, strike against, strike at, strike hard, strike home, strike out at, stroke, stumble, success, successful, surprise, suspense drama, swat, swing, swing at, swing on, swipe, tableau, tableau vivant, take a potshot, take care of, take the offensive, taking exception, talk show, tally, tattoo, teleplay, television drama, television play, tell, ten, theater of cruelty, thrust at, thump, thwack, time in, torpedo, total theater, touch, touchdown, trace, trace down, track down, traumatize, trichoschistism, triumph, tumble, turn up, vaccination, vaccine, variety show, vaudeville, vaudeville show, vehicle, wade into, wallop, waste, whack, wham, whomp, whop, wipe, wipe out, word-of-mouth success, work, wow, yerk, zap