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Entry 18 senses · 7 variants Webster, 1913

Fit

/(fĭt)/ · IPA /fɪt/
01 imp. & p. p. imp. & p. p. of Fight.
  1. 1.
    imp. & p. p. of Fight.[Obs. or Colloq.] See: Fight
02 n. In Old English, a song; a strain; a canto or portion of a ballad; a passus.
  1. 1.
    In Old English, a song; a strain; a canto or portion of a ballad; a passus.
    “To play some pleasant fit.” — Spenser.
03 a. Adapted to an end, object, or design; suitable by nature or by art; suited by character, qualities, circumstances, education, etc.; qualifi…
  1. 1.
    Adapted to an end, object, or design; suitable by nature or by art; suited by character, qualities, circumstances, education, etc.; qualified; competent; worthy.
    “That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in.” — Shak.
    “Fit audience find, though few.” — Milton.
  2. 2.
    Prepared; ready.[Obs.]
    “So fit to shoot, she singled forth among her foes who first her quarry's strength should feel.” — Fairfax.
  3. 3.
    Conformed to a standart of duty, properiety, or taste; convenient; meet; becoming; proper.
    “Is it fit to say a king, Thou art wicked?” — Job xxxiv. 18.
Syn. Suitable; proper; appropriate; meet; becoming; expedient; congruous; correspondent; apposite; apt; adapted; prepared; qualified; competent; adequate.
04 v. t. To make fit or suitable; to adapt to the purpose intended; to qualify; to put into a condition of readiness or preparation.
imp. & p. p. Fitted; p. pr. & vb. n. Fitting
  1. 1.
    To make fit or suitable; to adapt to the purpose intended; to qualify; to put into a condition of readiness or preparation.
    “The time is fitted for the duty.” — Burke.
    “The very situation for which he was peculiarly fitted by nature.” — Macaulay.
  2. 2.
    To bring to a required form and size; to shape aright; to adapt to a model; to adjust; -- said especially of the work of a carpenter, machinist, tailor, etc.
    “The carpenter . . . marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes.” — Is. xliv. 13.
  3. 3.
    To supply with something that is suitable or fit, or that is shaped and adjusted to the use required.
    “No milliner can so fit his customers with gloves.” — Shak.
  4. 4.
    To be suitable to; to answer the requirements of; to be correctly shaped and adjusted to; as, if the coat fits you, put it on.
    “That's a bountiful answer that fits all questions.” — Shak.
    “That time best fits the work.” — Shak.
Phrases & compounds
To fit out — to supply with necessaries or means; to furnish; to equip; as, to fit out a privateer.
To fit up — to furnish with things suitable; to make proper for the reception or use of any person; to prepare; as, to fit up a room for a guest.
05 v. i. To be proper or becoming.
  1. 1.
    To be proper or becoming.
    “Nor fits it to prolong the feast.” — Pope.
  2. 2.
    To be adjusted to a particular shape or size; to suit; to be adapted; as, his coat fits very well.
06 n. The quality of being fit; adjustment; adaptedness; as of dress to the person of the wearer.
  1. 1.
    The quality of being fit; adjustment; adaptedness; as of dress to the person of the wearer.
  2. 2.
    The coincidence of parts that come in contact.(Mach.)
Phrases & compounds
Fit rod — a gauge rod used to try the depth of a bolt hole in order to determine the length of the bolt required.
07 n. A stroke or blow.
  1. 1.
    A stroke or blow.[Obs. or R.]
    “Curse on that cross, quoth then the Sarazin, That keeps thy body from the bitter fit.” — Spenser.
  2. 2.
    A sudden and violent attack of a disorder; a stroke of disease, as of epilepsy or apoplexy, which produces convulsions or unconsciousness; a convulsion; a paroxysm; hence, a period of exacerbation of a disease; in general, an attack of disease; as, a fit of sickness.
    “And when the fit was on him, I did mark How he did shake.” — Shak.
  3. 3.
    A mood of any kind which masters or possesses one for a time; a temporary, absorbing affection; a paroxysm; as, a fit of melancholy, of passion, or of laughter.
    “All fits of pleasure we balanced by an equal degree of pain.” — Swift.
    “The English, however, were on this subject prone to fits of jealously.” — Macaulay.
  4. 4.
    A passing humor; a caprice; a sudden and unusual effort, activity, or motion, followed by relaxation or inaction; an impulsive and irregular action.
    “The fits of the season.” — Shak.
  5. 5.
    A darting point; a sudden emission.[R.]
    “A tongue of light, a fit of flame.” — Coleridge.
Phrases & compounds
By fits — by intervals of action and repose; impulsively and irregularly; intermittently.