hitn.

Forms: Also Middle English hete, 1500s–1700s hitt.

Etymology: < hit v.

a. A blow given to something aimed at; a stroke (at cricket, billiards, etc.); the collision or impact of one body with another. hit-in (in Polo), the hitting of the ball into the field of play. (Cf. to hit in 3 at hit v. Phrasal verbs). hit off (in Hockey), the first stroke, which begins the game.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impact > striking > [noun] > a stroke or blow

dintc897

swengOE

shutec1000

kill?c1225

swipc1275

stroke1297

dentc1325

touchc1325

knock1377

knalc1380

swapc1384

woundc1384

smitinga1398

lush?a1400

sowa1400

swaipa1400

wapc1400

smita1425

popc1425

rumbelowc1425

hitc1450

clope1481

rimmel1487

blow1488

dinga1500

quartera1500

ruska1500

tucka1500

recounterc1515

palta1522

nolpc1540

swoop1544

push1561

smot1566

veny1578

remnant1580

venue1591

cuff1610

poltc1610

dust1611

tank1686

devel1787

dunching1789

flack1823

swinge1823

looder1825

thrash1840

dolk1861

thresh1863

mace-blow1879

pulsation1891

nosebleeder1921

slosh1936

smackeroo1942

dab-

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > [noun] > manner of playing ball

bata1400

back-swing1577

banding1589

stroke1662

stop1773

swipe1788

straik1820

screwing1825

return1833

volleying1837

return stroke1838

volley1851

swiper1853

shot1868

handling1870

screw kick1870

mishit1882

smash1882

misfield1886

fumble1895

run-up1897

mishitting1900

balloon1904

carryback1905

placement1909

tonk1922

trick shot1924

retrieve1952

sizzler1960

undercut1960

shotmaking1969

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > hockey > [noun] > bully-off or hit-off

bully1883

hit off1893

centre bully1897

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > equestrian sports except racing > polo > [noun] > actions

knock-out1894

safety1896

hit-in1930

crook1935

c1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 185 To hym wyl I go, and ȝeve hym suche an hete That alle the lechis of the londe his lyf xul nevyr restore.

1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Colpo, a blow, a stroke, a hit.

1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet v. ii. 232 A hit, a most palpable hit.

1681 C. Cotton Wonders of Peake 32 How deep..By tumbling down stones..Till the first hit strikes the astonisht ear, Like Thunder under-ground.

1810 Sporting Mag. 36 195 The navigator could plant but few hits.

1811 Sporting Mag. 37 92 He..can only be denied by a hit down.

1850 ‘Bat’ Cricketer's Man. (rev. ed.) 46 Whatever byes result from the hit, go to the hit.

1879 F. T. Pollok Sport Brit. Burmah I. 229 We..made some very disgraceful misses, and again some very pretty hits.

1893 Westm. Gaz. 22 Feb. 11/2 The annual encounter..at hockey..Hit off will be at half-past two.

1930 Hurlingham Club Rules of Polo (ed. 43) iii. 63 Penalty 2, by the side fouled—a hit in from behind by the other side..the defending side being free to place themselves where they choose.

1937 Times 16 July 5/5 Captain Morrison, after meeting a hit-in by Major Harrison put Adsdean further ahead with a stupendous shot under his pony's neck.

1959 Times 18 May 2/1 Lucas met a hit-in to score early in the second chukka.

b. A dose of a narcotic drug; the action of obtaining or administering such a dose. Also attributive, as hit-mark n. the scar from an injection of a drug. slang (originally U.S.).

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the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun] > a dose of

jolt1916

bhang1922

charge1929

fix1934

fix-up1934

joy-pop1939

spoon1968

the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [noun] > scar > of injection

needle mark1855

puncture mark1859

needle track1888

hit-mark1962

needle scar1962

track1964

1951 Nat. Educ. Assoc. U.S. Jrnl. May 342/2 They are anxious to make a ‘connection’, ‘score’ or ‘hit’.

1962 ‘E. McBain’ Like Love (1964) ix. 119 A narcotics cop will insist on examining a prostitute's thighs for hit marks, even when he knows she couldn't possibly be a junkie.

1966 L. Cohen Beautiful Losers (1970) i. 106 They rustled among their veins for one that still carried blood, tapped the needles under the flesh, waited for the red signal of a ‘hit’, and then squirted the solution into circulation.

1970 Daily Tel. 27 Apr. 4/8 In San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, the hippie Mecca, the price of one ‘hit’ has dropped from 12s to 2s 6d.

1972 Southerly 32 103 Somebody hands me a joint and I take a hit and hand it to Marlene who takes a hit.

1972 C. Weston Poor, Poor Ophelia (1973) ii. 15 You're blind! You have to wait for a report to see the hit marks?

c. A killing; a robbery. Also attributive, as hit list n. (a) a list of persons to be assassinated; (b) transferred a list or group of persons, etc., against which some concerted action is intended; a list of objectives. hit-man n. a hired murderer. hit squad n. a group of esp. politically-motivated assassins or kidnappers; also transferred. slang (originally U.S.).

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the world > life > death > killing > [noun]

mortifyingc1384

perishingc1384

slayinga1400

interfectionc1450

dispatchment1529

killingc1540

dispatch1576

unliving1599

martyring1607

taking offa1616

enecation1657

exanimation1670

(to get) the chop or chopper1945

wipeout1968

society > communication > record > list > [noun] > methodical or catalogue

schedule1516

Christ-cross-row1579

catalogue1667

matricularya1676

schemea1676

catalogue raisonné1784

cumulation1900

schematization1940

hit list1970

the world > life > death > killing > man-killer or homicide > [noun] > murderer or assassin

banea800

murthereOE

quellerOE

manslaughta1225

manquellec1275

murderer1340

Cainc1380

drepera1400

sicariana1400

murder mana1450

interfector1450

murdrier1481

murdresara1500

assassin1531

cut-throat1535

cutter1569

baner1605

brave1606

bravo1609

dagger-mana1616

assassinate1621

assassinator1651

sword-taker1660

assassinant1662

banesman1870

hatchet man1876

murdermonger1900

hit-man1970

mechanic1972

contract killer1980

the mind > will > intention > [noun] > intention or purpose > end, purpose, or object > list of objectives

hit list1970

the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > [noun] > act or instance of

robbinga1300

ravina1325

robberya1325

burgh-brechea1387

reif1533

hoist1714

jump1777

speak1811

trick1865

clean-up1928

heist1930

knock-off1969

the world > life > death > killing > man-killing or homicide > murder or assassination > [noun] > list of persons to be murdered

hit list1970

the world > life > death > killing > man-killer or homicide > [noun] > murderer or assassin > group of

hit squad1970

the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [noun] > violent treatment or force > masterful or bullying > person > collectively, spec.

hit squad1970

1970 Sunday Truth (Brisbane) 8 Mar. 32/5 The Mafia cringe at the way our boys carry out their hits.

1971 D. MacKenzie Sleep is for Rich vi. 186 I got scared and called the whole thing off. Someone else must have made the hit.

1976 Time 5 Jan. 46/1 One intelligence official..bitterly labeled Counterspy's roster of CIA agents as nothing more or less than ‘a hit list’.1977 Time 6 June 11/1 A particular sore point was Carter's original ‘hit list’ of 32 water projects. The President compromised and restored 14 of the originally doomed projects.1978 Guardian Weekly 26 Nov. 7/1 ZANU, one of two Rhodesian nationalist guerrilla organisations, meanwhile issued a ‘hit list’ of supporters of the interim Government, describing them as ‘priority military targets’.1985 Times Educ. Suppl. 19 July 1/2 By the time talks resume..the Government's ‘hit list’ of rate-capped authorities in 1986 to 1987 would be published.1970 J. Philips Nightmare at Dawn (1971) ii. 97 He was..a hired gun, a hit-man.1973 Daily Tel. 25 July 4/8 Bryant is alleged to have been a ‘hit man’ (assassin) for drug traffickers and to have carried out a ‘contract’ to kill Finley.1976 Times 19 Apr. 6/5 Apart from the attempts to kill Major Muhayshi in Tunisia, a Libyan hit squad sought him out in London in February.1981 Internat. Herald Tribune 20 Nov. 6/4 Venezuelan democrats..had to overthrow military dictatorships to gain power, and then defeat Castroite insurgents and rightist hit squads to keep it.1985 T. Lundberg Starting in Business i. 14 The Government..then has to..set up Mr Tebbit's hit squads.

2. A stroke of sarcasm, censure, rebuke, etc.

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the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > criticism > [noun] > instance of > sharp

quippy1519

quip1532

snack?1554

gird1566

pincha1568

quib1656

hitc1668

snapper1817

shy1840

shot1841

swipe1892

jab1905

licks1971

c1668 in Roxburghe Ballads (1892) VII. 381 'Tis Wit for Wit, and Hit for Hit.

1673 R. Leigh Transproser Rehears'd 139 His snip~snap wit, hit for hit.

1800 Sporting Mag. 15 265 We have received a number of hits about the soup or broth shops.

1873 A. Helps Some Talk about Animals & their Masters iv. 101 In Hudibras there is a sly hit at the sayings of the philosophers.

a. A stroke of good luck which one hits upon or meets with; a fortunate chance.

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the world > action or operation > prosperity > [noun] > good fortune > piece of

opportunity?a1425

honeyfall1642

luck in a bag1649

godsend1810

stroke of luck1853

bonanza1878

lucky break1889

break1911

a bit of fat1923

snip1932

1666 S. Pepys Diary 1 June (1972) VII. 140 To lament the loss of the opportunity of the last year; which..all might have been such a height as will never come again in this age.

1684 T. Burnet Theory of Earth ii. 294 A lucky hit indeed, for chance to frame a world!

1704 tr. A. de Ovalle Of Kingdom of Chile in A. Churchill & J. Churchill Coll. Voy. III. 9/1 One of these Hits is enough to Enrich a Family.

1875 W. D. Whitney Life & Growth of Lang. vii. 120 Such words..which only by a lucky hit gain life and a career.

b. to look to (or mind) one's hits: to look to one's chances.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > advantage > an opportunity > have opportunity [verb (intransitive)] > look to one's chances

to have an eye to the wood1578

to look to (or mind) one's hits1699

1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 190 He should have minded his hits better, when he was minded to act the Tyrant.

1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew at Eye To have an Eye to the main Chance, or look to your Hits.

1765 C. Johnstone Chrysal III. i. ii. 10 If I mind my hits this trip, I shall be as rich as the best of them.

1840 F. Trollope Widow Married III. xxiii. 14 You had better mind your hits between mama and me.

a. A successful stroke made in action or performance of any kind; esp. any popular success (a person, a play, a song, etc.) in public entertainment. Also attributive and in other combinations, as hit parade n. a programme or grouping of ‘hits’. hit song n. (or hit song) a tune that proves popular.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > [noun] > one who or that which is successful > that which is successful > a successful stroke

gird1513

feat1564

grand coup1752

coup1791

tour de force1802

ten-strike1840

bull's-eye1857

score1901

strike1901

society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > [noun] > a performance > item in > type of item

star turn1885

sister act1893

showstopper1916

patter act1941

single act1952

bomb1954

stunt-

society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > [noun] > grouping of hits

hit parade1937

society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > [noun] > a performance > item in > collectively > grouping of popular successes

hit parade1937

society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > type of piece > [noun] > pop piece

pop number1921

schlager1934

hit song1942

B-side1962

1811 C. Mathews Let. 22 June in A. Mathews Mem. C. Mathews (1838) II. 123 Maw~worm was a most unusual hit, I am told.

1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 157 (note) One of Mr. Lane's most fortunate hits.

1829 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 25 399 Mr. Peel seems to have made a hit in the chief character of Shiel's play.

1835 C. Dickens Let. 9 Dec. (1965) I. 103 The insertion of another Prison Paper would decidedly detract from the ‘hit’ of the first.

1847 A. Smith Christopher Tadpole (1848) xxiv. 217 His general effect..was pronounced to be a hit.

1908 Sears, Roebuck Catal. No. 117. 199/1 Orchestra selections..‘Broadway Hits’.

1918 Talking Machine News & Jrnl. Amusements Feb. 83 (advt.) All the song-hits of the moment.

1918 Talking Machine News & Jrnl. Amusements Feb. 89/2 (advt.) When a title makes a hit, we are bound to have another something like it before long.

1918 Talking Machine News & Jrnl. Amusements Mar. p. iv (advt.) Always a hit!! A ‘Record’ in a Record.

1927 Melody Maker Aug. 800 (advt.) The sensational hit. Sweeping the country like a cyclone. The Doll Dance.

1932 Amer. Speech Apr. 252 The motto of the song writers is..‘A hit is not an aesthetic triumph, it is something that sells.’

1937 Cinema Arts June 22 (caption) The Hit Parade.

1937 W. S. Maugham Theatre xxviii. 270 I'm very pleased with her. I think she'll make quite a hit. I've half a mind to give her a contract.

1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §580/2 A popular song which has stood the test of time; hit song or tune.

1947 R. de Toledano Frontiers of Jazz xvi. 172 Hit tunes of his own composition.

1948 Manch. Guardian Weekly 1 Jan. 13/4 The box-office of any hit-show on Broadway.

1948 F. Brown Murder can be Fun (1951) i. 18 She had big blue eyes that would have been a hit on television.

1957 Observer 29 Sept. 13/1 It must first be said that Miss Storm has written a resounding, self-evident hit.

1957 Times Lit. Suppl. 4 Oct. 593/1 Hollywood now makes its smash hits out of American self-criticism.

1958 Times 26 May 7/6 The numbers listed in the hit parade all have a structure of professionalism.

1959 G. Freeman Jack would be Gentleman vi. 129 The first dozen of you lucky kids..will be presented with my latest hit disc.

1967 Boston Sunday Globe 23 Apr. A28/2 Lemons and peppermints have been ‘hit items’ from the very first fair, and so have rides on one of the Brookline Fire Department's engines.

1967 Melody Maker 29 July 7/3 I'm not chasing any hit records any more.

1968 Brit. Med. Bull. 24 245/1 Fowler (1966), using a program in Elliot 803 Autocode, has explored the effect of combining models with varying distributions of hit numbers.

1969 Punch 29 Jan. p. v Don Partridge, who shot from the pavement into the hit parade, is putting on a Buskers Concert.

b. A saying that goes to the point; a striking and effective expression; a telling phrase.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [noun] > vigorous language > a telling phrase

1836 T. Hook Gilbert Gurney (1850) I. i. 18 He suggested the introduction of two or three jokes—‘hits’, I recollect he called them—into the speeches of that personage.

1884 Nonconformist & Independent 25 Sept. 929/2 The noble speaker had made the hit of the evening.

1885 Law Times 80 10/1 One of his happiest hits is to brand wire pullers as the chiffonniers of politics.

c. A successful guess.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > conjecture, guessing > [noun] > a conjecture, guess > successful

1852 W. E. Gladstone Gleanings (1877) IV. i. 139 A knack of lucky conjecture..resembling that which solves conundrums, often seems to be more successful in its hits than comprehensive mental grasp or the closest logical continuity.

d. hit off, the act of hitting off (to hit off 3 at hit v. Phrasal verbs); a clever representation or imitation.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > representation > [noun] > a representation > clever

hit off1830

1830 J. Badcock in Foote's Wks. p. xi The plaudits which would accompany a successful hit-off of the subject under treatment.

5. Backgammon.

a. A game won by a player after his opponent has thrown off one or more men from the board, as distinguished from a gammon or a backgammon: see quot. 1888.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > backgammon > [noun] > actions or positions

lympoldingc1350

blot1598

after-game1601

why-nota1612

non-pass1688

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > backgammon > [noun] > scores

gammon1735

backgammon1883

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. ii. 13 Backgammon, at which my old friend and I sometimes took a two-penny hit.

1856 C. J. Lever Martins of Cro' Martin ii. 18 A hardly-contested ‘hit’ of backgammon was being fought out.

1888 Cassell's Bk. Sports & Past. 385 There are three different kinds of wins, viz., the hit, the gammon, and the backgammon. The player who has played all his men round into his own inner table, and by fortunate throws of the dice has borne all his men, wins the hit.

b. The act of hitting a ‘blot’: see hit v. 10.

ΚΠ

1778 T. Jones Hoyle's Games Improved 171 Two of your Adversary's Men in your Tables are better, for a Hit, than any greater Number, provided your Game is forwardest.

6. An abundant crop of fruit (i.e. one that turns out a success). western dialect.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > crop or crops > [noun] > fruit crop

fruitage1578

fruitery1708

setting1731

fructuation1782

top-crop1889

1800 Trans. Soc. Arts 18 303 What in the Cider-countries is called a hitt. This..superabundance of fruit, is very destructive to the trees; for so great a crop weakens them very much.

1890 J. D. Robertson Gloss. Words County of Gloucester Hit, an abundant crop of fruit.

Draft additions 1993

e. Computing. = match n.¹ 11. Also attributive, as hit rate n. occasionally, hit ratio n. the percentage of records in a file which are accessed in the course of a processing task; also used analogously in other computing contexts (esp. memory caching), and transferred.

ΘΚΠ

society > computing and information technology > data > database > [noun] > access or retrieval > access rate

hit rate1966

hit ratio1966

society > computing and information technology > data > database > [noun] > access or retrieval > searching > results of

match1962

1966 C. J. Sippl Computer Dict. & Handbk. (1967) 142/1 Hit,..2. In file maintenance, the finding of a match between a detail record and a master record. 3. The occurrence or match of transaction items with file items in the process of file maintenance.

1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing xvi. 265 If the account numbers are equal, we have a ‘hit’, and the transaction is used for updating the master record.

1972 C. L. Meek Gloss. Computing Terminol. 104/1 Hit rate.., the percentage of records in a file which are accessed, compared to the total number in that file.

1973 IBM Techn. Disclosure Bull. Dec. 2209 A Least Recently Used..replacement algorithm..results in a better hit ratio than that obtained from other page replacement algorithms.

1986 Eng. Today Oct.–Dec. 41/3 At least one [building] society calculates the number of accounts opened per total number of transactions handled. The result it expresses as the cashier's hit rate.

1987 Electronics & Wireless World Jan. 106/2 The cache holding register..is used to hold the prefetched long word in the case of a cache miss or to hold the prefetched long word from the cache if a hit occurs.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online September 2021).

hitv.

Brit.

/hɪt/, U.S.

/hɪt/

Forms: Past tense and past participle hit. Forms: Old English hyttan, Middle English–1500s hitte, hytte, Middle English hutte, hete, Middle English hyt, Middle English–1600s hitt, Middle English (3rd singular) hit, Middle English– hit. past tense Old English hytte, Middle English hutte, Middle English hitte, (Middle English hite), Middle English– hit, (Middle English hitt, Middle English hyt(te, 1500s–1600s hot, 1500s–1800s Scottish and northern hat, 1600s hatt). past participle Middle English y-hyt, Middle English hyt, yhytte, Middle English– hit, (dialectMiddle English Scottish hittin, 1500s– hitten, hutten, 1500s hot).

Origin: Apparently a borrowing from early Scandinavian.

Etymology: Late Old English hyttan = Old Norse hitta to hit upon, light upon, meet with, Swedish hitta, Danish hitte to hit, find. Apparently from Norse: compare Branch II; but the senses under I seem to have been developed at an early date in English from the notion ‘get at, reach’.

I. To get at or reach with a blow, to strike.

a. transitive. To reach or get at with a blow or a missile; to give a blow to (something aimed at); to strike with aim or intent. When the success of the actor is the prominent notion, its opposite is to miss; when the effect upon the object is prominent, the meaning tends to be ‘to strike sensibly, so as to be felt’; cf. sense 8.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impact > striking > strike [verb (transitive)]

swingc725

slayc825

knockc1000

platOE

swengea1225

swipa1225

kill?c1225

girdc1275

hitc1275

befta1300

anhitc1300

frapa1330

lushc1330

reddec1330

takec1330

popc1390

swapa1400

jod?14..

quella1425

suffetc1440

smith1451

nolpc1540

bedunch1567

percuss1575

noba1586

affrap1590

cuff?1611

doda1661

buffa1796

pug1802

nob1811

scud1814

bunt1825

belt1838

duntle1850

punt1886

plunk1888

potch1892

to stick one on1910

clunk1943

zonk1950

the world > movement > impact > striking > strike [verb (transitive)] > succeed in striking

hentOE

hitc1275

atreachc1330

reacha1400

attain1477

attaint1523

nail1785

catch1820

society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > stroke with weapon > strike with a weapon [verb (transitive)]

areach1014

maulc1225

hitc1275

smitec1275

reachc1330

strike1377

to cut over1867

society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > assail with missiles [verb (transitive)] > of missile: hit

hitc1275

strike1377

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13816 He..þene admiral hitte mid smærten ane dunte.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13006 Þe eotend smat after biliue & noht hine ne hutte [c1300 Otho hitte].

13.. K. Alis. 2155 Ac Alisaundre hutte him, certe, Thorugh livre, and longe, and heorte.

a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 3621 No man þat he hit miȝth him with-stonde.

1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. vi. xxix Atte laste Harold was yhyt wyþ an arewe & loste hys on ye.

1413 Pilgr. Sowle (1483) v. x. 101 Pacyence hitte Ire in the helme that it flewe a feld.

1460 Lybeaus Disc. 273 Was he never yhytte?

1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope iv. ix Thow shalt hytte hym with thy swerd and kylle hym.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 585/2 I hytte a thyng that I throwe at.

1553 T. Wilson Arte Rhetorique (1580) 3 Phavorinus the Philosopher..did hit a yong man over the Thumbes verie handsomely, for usyng..over straunge woordes.

c1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) ii. 36 Sym said he sett nocht by hiss forss, Bot hecht he sowld be hittin.

1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft xii. xv. 255 A viper smitten or hot with a reed is astonied.

a1600 A. Montgomerie Misc. Poems xxxiii. 17 He shot and hat me on the breist.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. v. 44 O for a stone-bow to hit him in the eye.

1743 Broughton's Rules Boxing in Blaine Encycl. Rur. Sports §1221 No person is to hit his adversary when he is down.

1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Hat, præt. of hit.

1879 F. T. Pollok Sport Brit. Burmah I. 193 I had hit the tigress hard as she sprang up.

1885 Law Times 9 May 29/2 The plaintiff..fired at him, but did not hit him.

figurative.1611 T. Middleton & T. Dekker Roaring Girle sig. M3 Some dispraised The haire... Some hit her o're the lippes, mislik'd their colour.

b. Cricket. (a) To strike (the ball) with the bat: hence with the bowler as object. (b) to hit off: to make up (a number of runs) by hitting.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > bat [verb (transitive)] > hit

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > bat [verb (transitive)] > score runs

fetch1735

run1752

to knock up1837

to knock off1851

to run out1856

to hit off1857

rattle1860

compile1884

to hit up1895

slog1897

1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. viii. 392 When you or Raggles hit a ball hard away for six.

1865 F. Lillywhite Guide to Cricketers (ed. 21) 86 Messrs. Tritton and Wright hit off 25 in 20 minutes.

1883 Daily Tel. 15 May 2/7 Dr. Grace hit Hill square for 4.

1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 14 Aug. 9/1 Mr. Hornby hit each bowler twice for 4.

1888 Daily News 15 Sept. 3/4 The Englishmen had only 33 to get to win and this was hit off in twenty-five minutes for the loss of one wicket.

1892 Daily News 1 Sept. 4/5 Yorkshire..in the time remaining..hit off 56 of these for the loss of two batsmen.

2. absol. or intransitive. To give a blow or blows; to strike with something in hand or with a missile.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impact > striking > strike or deliver blows [verb (intransitive)]

slay971

smitelOE

flatc1330

flap1362

acoupc1380

frapa1400

girda1400

hit?a1400

knocka1400

swap?a1400

wapa1400

castc1400

strike1509

befta1522

to throw about one1590

cuff1596

to let down1640

dunch1805

yark1818

bunt1867

the world > movement > impact > striking > strike or deliver blows [verb (intransitive)] > succeed in striking

hit?a1400

to strike home1590

connect1933

society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > stroke with weapon > strike (of weapon) [verb (intransitive)] > strike with a weapon

hit?a1400

society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge missile [verb (intransitive)] > strike with missile

?a1400 Morte Arth. 1149 Arthur..hittez ever in the hulke up to þe hiltez.

1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxviii. 179 Who so shootes at the like, in hope to hit, may sooner misse.

1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. 57 Take aim to the Mark you would shoot to, and that is the way to hit.

1700 S. L. tr. C. Frick Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 25 Throw a Dart or long Stick, with which they'll hit within the compass of a farthing a mighty distance.

1850 S. G. Osborne Gleanings 112 There were..lads..hitting at stones with hammers.

1870 Blaine's Encycl. Rural Sports (rev. ed.) §4038 (Boxing) He was..an excellent ‘stopper’, hitting with his right and stopping with his left.

3. transitive. Of a missile or moving body: to come upon with forcible impact; to strike.

ΚΠ

c1480 (a1400) St. Christopher 581 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 356 Sowne ane erow in þe ee hyme hit.

a1665 K. Digby Jrnl. Voy. to Mediterranean (1868) 77 He..shott 7 peeces att my pinnace, all which hatt her.

1694 A. de la Pryme Diary 19 May (1870) i. 40 In at the window..[it] was flung..and had like to have hitten Mr. Walker on the head.

1700 S. L. tr. C. Schweitzer Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 354 With an Elligar..that sticks in the Fish it hits.

1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth xi, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 287 My pellet..I trust, it did not hit your eye.

figurative.1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid v. iii. 90 The meikle hillis Bemys agane, hit with the brute so schill is.1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess v. 96 The sun that now..hit the Northern hills.

4. absol. or intransitive.

a. To come with forcible impact (against, upon, etc.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impact > impinge [verb (intransitive)] > forcibly or violently

beatc885

pilta1200

smitec1300

dashc1305

pitchc1325

dushc1400

hitc1400

jouncec1440

hurl1470

swack1488

knock1530

jut1548

squat1587

bump1699

jowl1770

smash1835

lasha1851

ding1874

biff1904

wham1948

slam1973

c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xiii. 58 Þe whilk brand efter~wardes hitt on þe erthe and stakk still þerin.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 585/2 I went darkeling and dyd hytte agaynst a doore.

1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age i. iv. xxiii. 142 When we endeavour to shunne one kind of..Sand-banks, we hit against another.

a1704 J. Locke Exam. Malebranche §45 If bodies be extension alone, how can they move and hit one against another?

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxv. 190 The little snow granules hit spitefully against the skin.

1898 N.E.D. at Hit Mod. The shot hit in front of the head high up.

b. To strike exactly or at the proper point. Usually in to hit on so many cylinders: (of an internal-combustion engine) to be running properly on so many cylinders; hence, to be hitting on all four or six (cylinders)): to be running or working perfectly; figurative to be in good trim or form.

ΚΠ

1912 C. Mathewson Pitching in Pinch xii. 269 So the best infielder takes time to fit into the infield of a Big League club and have it hit on all four cylinders again.

1928 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 10 Mar. 127/1 Modern science offers you a natural means to keep you ‘hitting on all six’—every minute of the day.

5. transitive. To deliver (a blow, stroke, etc.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impact > striking > strike [verb (transitive)] > deal or give (a stroke or blow)

setc1300

smitec1300

layc1330

drivec1380

slentc1380

hit?a1400

to lay ona1400

reacha1400

fetchc1400

depart1477

warpc1480

throw1488

lenda1500

serve1561

wherret1599

senda1627

lunge1735

to lay in1809

wreak1817

to get in1834

?a1400 Morte Arth. 3687 Archers of Inglande..Hittis thourghe þe harde stele fulle hertly dynnttis.

1460 Lybeaus Disc. 1631 Ayder yn other scheld hytte Strokes grymly greete.

c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 5937 He..Hit on his hede a full hard dynt.

1879 F. T. Pollok Sport Brit. Burmah I. 122 I lifted the stick and pretended to hit at it a back-handed blow.

6. (With two objects.) to hit any one a blow: to strike him with a blow, to give him a blow.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impact > striking > strike [verb (transitive)] > specific animate object

drepeOE

smitec1200

buffet?c1225

strike1377

rapa1400

seta1400

frontc1400

ballc1450

throw1488

to bear (a person) a blow1530

fetch1556

douse1559

knetcha1564

slat1577

to hit any one a blow1597

wherret1599

alapate1609

shock1614

baske1642

measure1652

plump1785

jow1802

nobble1841

scuff1841

clump1864

bust1873

plonk1874

to sock it to1877

dot1881

biff1888

dong1889

slosh1890

to soak it to1892

to cop (a person) one1898

poke1906

to hang one on1908

bop1931

clonk1949

1597 T. Beard Theatre Gods Iudgements i. xxiii. 120 One of his seruants..hot him such a knock with a pistoll..that he killed him therewith.

1599 J. Minsheu Pleasant Dialogues Spanish & Eng. 18 in R. Percyvall & J. Minsheu Spanish Gram. I hit my selfe a blowe..in this shin bone.

1763 C. Johnstone Reverie (new ed.) I. 135 Hitting him a plump in the bread-basket.

1858 N. Hawthorne Fr. & Ital. Jrnls. II. 23 Hitting the poor Venus another..blow.

7. transitive. To knock (a part of the body) against (also on) something.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impact > impinge upon [verb (transitive)] > cause to impinge > forcibly or violently

knocka1340

runa1425

rap1440

jowlc1470

dauda1572

sousea1593

bedash1609

bob1612

bump1673

bebump1694

boup1715

bonk1929

prang1952

1639 T. B. tr. J.-P. Camus Certain Moral Relations in S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events 249 [He] hit his nose so hard against the ground, that he lay quite stund with the fall.

1665 R. Hooke Micrographia 178 It would swim to and fro..but would often hit itself against the rocks or stones.

1898 N.E.D. at Hit Mod. In the dark he hit his foot against the step.

8. figurative.

a. To affect the conscience, feelings, comfort, prosperity, etc. of (any one) in a way analogous to physical hitting; to affect sensibly, painfully, or injuriously; to smite, wound, hurt. to hit home: cf. home adv. 4.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > be painful or distressing to a person [verb (intransitive)] > make lasting painful impression

to hit homec1480

to pierce one's stomach1509

sink (deep) into one's stomach1532

the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > cause of mental anguish or torment > be in anguish [verb (intransitive)] > cause pang

to hit homec1480

society > morality > virtue > righteousness or rectitude > reform, amendment, or correction > repentance or contrition > repent (sin, wrongdoing, etc.) [verb (transitive)] > affect with remorse > prick, smite, etc., with remorse

prickOE

smitea1382

tanga1400

grudgec1460

to hit home1627

twinge1647

c1480 (a1400) St. George 110 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 179 Sad sorow sa cane hyme hit.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid iv. xi. 22 Now art thou hit with frawart weirdis vnkynd.

1553 T. Wilson Arte Rhetorique (1580) 138 A merie man can want no matter to hitte hym home.

c1565 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1728) 234 (Jam.) The chancellour..hearing the grose and ruid speach..thought he hat thame ovir near.

1627 R. Sanderson Ten Serm. 300 Christ hitteth him home, and presseth vpon his particular corruption.

1678 R. Barclay Apol. True Christian Divinity x. §17. 307 This Objection hitteth not us at all.

1733 A. Pope Impertinent 14 Chere Comtesse! you have Charms all Hearts to hit!

1861 J. Bright in Parl. Deb. 3rd Ser. 162 71 The noble Lord felt himself hit.

1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. xliii. 134 There is always a desire to hit companies, especially banks and railroads.

1938 Times 30 Apr. 11/4 Mr. Roosevelt says that the one lesson in events abroad that has ‘hit home’ is that ‘the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic State itself’.

b. to be hard (sometimes heavily, badly) hit: to be severely or deeply affected by something; esp. to be seriously smitten by some adversity. (Cf. sense 1.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > adversity > be in adversity [verb (intransitive)] > be seriously struck by adversity

to be hard (sometimes heavily, badly) hit1854

the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > suffer anguish or torment [verb (intransitive)]

anguisha1400

smoke1548

wring1565

to eat one's (own) heart1590

to bleed inwardlya1616

sting1849

twinge1850

to be hard (sometimes heavily, badly) hit1854

1854 C. J. Lever Dodd Family Abroad xiv. 110 I got ‘hit hard’ at the Brussels races, lost twelve hundred at écarté.

1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. III. xc. 229 Stocks had now fallen, and everybody was hard hit.

1891 N. Gould Double Event 3 A friend of his had been hit heavily over a certain race.

1893 Liverpool Daily Post 1 Jan. Liverpool was badly hit last year by the fall in cotton.

c. To criticize, make fun of or ridicule (a person or thing): sometimes const. at.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > derision, ridicule, or mockery > banter or good-humoured ridicule > banter [verb (transitive)] > make fun of

to have (also i-do) (something) to gameeOE

to make (a) game of (also at, on)?c1250

overmirtha1400

sporta1533

to make a sport of1535

to make (up) a lip1546

to give one a (or the) gleek1567

to make a May game of1569

to play with a person's nose1579

to make merry over (also with)1621

game1699

to make fun of1732

the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > criticism > criticize [verb (transitive)] > sharply

touch1526

quip1572

quib1580

quirk1596

rawhide1895

1843 Punch 23 Sept. 131/2 Instead of an outburst of enthusiasm at the line ‘Confound their politics’, the waltzer is supposed to execute a pirouette, which is supposed to hit at our wavering propensities.

1936 S.P.E. Tract (Soc. for Pure Eng.) No. XLV. 190 The member of a newspaper staff who is responsible for writing the headlines prefers..hit..to criticize.

1945 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. vi. 121 A man who has acquired a strong dislike of another person..hits or..criticizes him.

1969 Pen IX. 47 He could supply her with a list of synonyms for the verb ‘savage’, i.e...hit at.

d. To occur to (a person); to affect in a particular way, to appear to; to have an impact on.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > effect produced on emotions > have an effect on [verb (transitive)]

gravec1374

bitec1400

rapt?1577

infecta1586

to come (also get, go) home to1625

to screw up1644

strike1672

strikea1701

impress1736

to touch up1796

to burn into1823

knock1883

impressionize1894

the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > idea, notion, or concept > occur to [verb (transitive)]

strikea1616

to come across ——1673

suggest1709

to come upon ——a1712

1891 R. Kipling Light that Failed v. 78 Look at their faces. It hits 'em.

1914 G. Atherton Perch of Devil i. xxx. 175 Lucky it hit him to buy the house and send that last five thousand.

1916 ‘B. M. Bower’ Phantom Herd v. 68 I wanted to see how it would hit you.

1916 G. B. Shaw Doctors' Delusions (1932) 105 Their worthlessness would not hit us in the face as the worthlessness of Dr Saleeby's figures does.

1921 J. Galsworthy To Let ii. xi. 212 Their manners now really quite hit you in the eye.

1937 Evening News 28 Jan. 7/1 (headline) Finding best colours for crossing that will ‘hit the eye’.

1958 Listener 16 Oct. 600/2 This book..was published about two years ago, and it has not yet hit the architectural profession.

e. not to know (or to wonder) what hit one: to be killed; to be surprised or disconcerted.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > killing > kill [verb (intransitive)] > be killed

to be deadc1000

fallOE

spilla1300

suffera1616

to fall (a) prey (also victim, sacrifice) toa1774

to lose the number of one's mess1807

to go up1825

to get his (also hers, theirs)1903

to cop (also stop, catch, get, etc.) a packet1916

click1917

not to know (or to wonder) what hit one1923

to get the works1928

to go for a burton1941

(to get) the chop or chopper1945

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > happen or move unexpectedly [verb (intransitive)] > feel surprised

to think wonder (also ferly)lOE

to have wondera1400

admirec1429

startle1562

to think (it) strange of (or concerning)1585

to come short?1611

strange1639

to think (it) much1669

admirize1702

to go (all) hot and cold1845

to take to1862

surprise1943

not to know (or to wonder) what hit one1961

1923 J. Miner Jack Miner & Birds viii. 27 He came to examine the decoys near me and while his attention was rivetted on them I raised up and fired, and he never knew what hit him.

1961 Listener 19 Oct. 589/1 Many of our less efficient firms would be hurt so hard that they could never quite know what had hit them.

1963 Observer 10 Feb. 24/3 They must have wondered what hit them in Paris last week, for almost every female member of the British Press made a dead set for the hosiery counter at Galeries Lafayette.

f. figurative. to hit for six [compare sense 1b(a)] : to demolish an argument, scheme, etc., to vanquish; to deal a severe blow to.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > bring to ruin or put an end to

undoc950

shendOE

forfarea1000

endc1000

to do awayOE

aquenchc1175

slayc1175

stathea1200

tinea1300

to-spilla1300

batec1300

bleschea1325

honisha1325

leesea1325

wastec1325

stanch1338

corrumpa1340

destroy1340

to put awayc1350

dissolvec1374

supplanta1382

to-shend1382

aneantizec1384

avoidc1384

to put outa1398

beshenda1400

swelta1400

amortizec1405

distract1413

consumec1425

shelfc1425

abroge1427

downthringc1430

kill1435

poisonc1450

defeat1474

perish1509

to blow away1523

abrogatea1529

to prick (also turn, pitch) over the perka1529

dash?1529

to bring (also send) to (the) pot1531

put in the pot1531

wipea1538

extermine1539

fatec1540

peppera1550

disappoint1563

to put (also set) beside the saddle1563

to cut the throat of1565

to throw (also turn, etc.) over the perch1568

to make a hand of (also on, with)1569

demolish1570

to break the neck of1576

to make shipwreck of1577

spoil1578

to knock on (in) the head (also rarely at head)1579

cipher1589

ruinate1590

to cut off by the shins1592

shipwreck1599

exterminate1605

finish1611

damnify1612

ravel1614

braina1616

stagger1629

unrivet1630

consummate1634

pulverizea1640

baffle1649

devil1652

to blow up1660

feague1668

shatter1683

cook1708

to die away1748

to prove fatal (to)1759

to knock up1764

to knock (or kick) the hindsight out or off1834

to put the kibosh on1834

to cook (rarely do) one's goose1835

kibosh1841

to chaw up1843

cooper1851

to jack up1870

scuttle1888

to bugger up1891

jigger1895

torpedo1895

on the fritz1900

to put paid to1901

rot1908

down and out1916

scuppera1918

to put the skids under1918

stonker1919

liquidate1924

to screw up1933

cruel1934

to dig the grave of1934

pox1935

blow1936

to hit for six1937

to piss up1937

to dust off1938

zap1976

the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > have or gain mastery or superiority over [verb (transitive)] > overcome or defeat > soundly

threshc1384

to knock the socks offa1529

thump1597

thrash1609

thwacka1616

capot1649

to beat to snuff1819

to knock into a cocked hat1830

to —— (the) hell out of1833

sledgehammer1834

rout1835

whop1836

skin1838

whip-saw1842

to knock (the) spots off1850

to make mincemeat of1853

to mop (up) the floor with1875

to beat pointless1877

to lick into fits1879

to take apart1880

to knock out1883

wax1884

contund1885

to give (a person) fits1885

to wipe the floor with1887

flatten1892

to knock (someone) for six1902

slaughter1903

slather1910

to hit for six1937

hammer1948

whomp1952

bulldozer1954

zilch1957

shred1966

tank1973

slam-dunk1975

beast1977

1937 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 May 343/4 Lawrence..was chiefly concerned to hit swots and cads and foreigners for six.

1957 I. Cross God Boy (1958) xiii. 109 I had really hit her for a six and made her change her tune properly.

1961 Oxf. Mag. 15 June 413/1 Mr. Sisam, the Secretary, hit most of the questioners for six.

1967 Lancet 1 July 41/1 I began to wonder if my massive and inexpert administration of chloroform had not hit his liver—perhaps not inappropriately—for six.

g. To give or administer a narcotic drug to (a person). Also intransitive. slang (originally U.S.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > drugging a person or thing > drug [verb (intransitive)]

spike1935

the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > drugging a person or thing > drug [verb (transitive)]

narcotize1526

potion1611

druga1730

hocus1831

dope1889

slug1925

snow1927

bomb1950

to hop up1968

1949 N. Algren Man with Golden Arm 76 It [sc. a narcotic injection] hit all right. It hit the heart like a run~away locomotive, it hit like a falling wall.]

1953 W. S. Burroughs Junkie xiv. 141 ‘Hit me, will you, Ike?’ Old Ike poked a gentle finger along the vein holding the dropper poised between thumb and fingers.

1959 W. S. Burroughs Naked Lunch 67 The addict regards his body as an instrument to absorb the medium in which he lives, evaluates his tissue with the cold hands of a horse dealer. ‘No use trying to hit there.’

1970 N.Y. Times 23 Feb. 26 How did he become an addict? ‘You mean, who hit me first? My friend, Johnny.’

h. To kill; to rob. slang (originally U.S.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > killing > kill [verb (transitive)]

swevec725

quelmeOE

slayc893

quelleOE

of-falleOE

ofslayeOE

aquellc950

ayeteeOE

spillc950

beliveOE

to bring (also do) of (one's) life-dayOE

fordoa1000

forfarea1000

asweveOE

drepeOE

forleseOE

martyrOE

to do (also i-do, draw) of lifeOE

bringc1175

off-quellc1175

quenchc1175

forswelta1225

adeadc1225

to bring of daysc1225

to do to deathc1225

to draw (a person) to deathc1225

murder?c1225

aslayc1275

forferec1275

to lay to ground, to earth (Sc. at eird)c1275

martyrc1300

strangle1303

destroya1325

misdoa1325

killc1330

tailc1330

to take the life of (also fro)c1330

enda1340

to kill to (into, unto) death1362

brittena1375

deadc1374

to ding to deathc1380

mortifya1382

perisha1387

to dight to death1393

colea1400

fella1400

kill out (away, down, up)a1400

to slay up or downa1400

swelta1400

voida1400

deliverc1400

starvec1425

jugylc1440

morta1450

to bring to, on, or upon (one's) bierc1480

to put offc1485

to-slaya1500

to make away with1502

to put (a person or thing) to silencec1503

rida1513

to put downa1525

to hang out of the way1528

dispatch?1529

strikea1535

occidea1538

to firk to death, (out) of lifec1540

to fling to deathc1540

extinct1548

to make out of the way1551

to fet offa1556

to cut offc1565

to make away?1566

occise1575

spoil1578

senda1586

to put away1588

exanimate1593

unmortalize1593

speed1594

unlive1594

execute1597

dislive1598

extinguish1598

to lay along1599

to make hence1605

conclude1606

kill off1607

disanimate1609

feeze1609

to smite, stab in, under the fifth rib1611

to kill dead1615

transporta1616

spatch1616

to take off1619

mactate1623

to make meat of1632

to turn up1642

inanimate1647

pop1649

enecate1657

cadaverate1658

expedite1678

to make dog's meat of1679

to make mincemeat of1709

sluice1749

finisha1753

royna1770

still1778

do1780

deaden1807

deathifyc1810

to lay out1829

cool1833

to use up1833

puckeroo1840

to rub out1840

cadaverize1841

to put under the sod1847

suicide1852

outkill1860

to fix1875

to put under1879

corpse1884

stiffen1888

tip1891

to do away with1899

to take out1900

stretch1902

red-light1906

huff1919

to knock rotten1919

skittle1919

liquidate1924

clip1927

to set over1931

creasea1935

ice1941

lose1942

to put to sleep1942

zap1942

to take down1967

wax1968

trash1973

ace1975

the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > rob [verb (transitive)]

reaveeOE

benima1325

berob1340

pelfa1400

distress1490

derob1546

heave1567

shrive1630

strubc1680

spung1719

to do over1785

strong-arm1896

make1926

heist1930

to take off1937

to knock off1960

1955 People (Austral.) 19 Oct. 13/2 Dutch bellowed, ‘Dewey's gotta go. He's gotta be hit.’

1968 N. Giovanni in A. Chapman New Black Voices (1972) 250 I have been robbed It looked like they knew That i was to be hit They took my tv My two rings.

1972 D. E. Westlake Cops & Robbers (1973) xvi. 247 If they're cops, maybe it's not such a good idea to have them hit.

1973 Publishers Weekly 29 Jan. 229/2 A professional killer who has ‘hit’ 38 victims.

9. To cast, throw. Obsolete exc. dialect.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impelling or driving > projecting through space or throwing > throw [verb (transitive)]

warpc888

torvec1000

castc1230

slingc1290

forthcasta1300

throwc1300

lancec1330

pitchc1380

slentc1380

glenta1400

launcha1400

routc1400

waltc1400

flingc1420

jeta1450

vire1487

ajet1490

hurl1563

toss1570

kest1590

picka1600

peck1611

jaculate1623

conject1625

elance1718

squail1876

tipple1887

bish1940

biff1941

slap1957

welly1986

1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. v. 172 Þenne Clement þe Cobelere caste of his cloke, And Hikke þe Ostiler hutte his hod aftur.

1862 H. Kingsley Ravenshoe xlii Everthing past use was hit, as they say in Berkshire, out into the street.

10. Backgammon. To ‘take up’ (a man). to hit a blot: to throw a number which enables the player to take up an unguarded man, that is, one left single and alone on any point in his adversary's tables. Hence figurative to discover a failing or a weak point. (See blot n.²)

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > backgammon > [verb (intransitive)] > actions

to hit a blot1599

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > backgammon > [verb (transitive)] > actions

bear1550

point1680

carry1743

1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. B3^v Mis. Gou. Looke ye Mistresse now I hit ye. Mis. Bar. Why I, you neuer vse to misse a blot, Especially when it stands so faire to hit... Mis. Gou. I hot your man.

1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions p. xxxviii And he there hits a blot in the Papal Tenets that was never hit before.

1778 T. Jones Hoyle's Games Improved 175 Suppose I leave two Blots, either of which cannot be hit but by double Dice.

?1870 F. Hardy & J. R. Ware Mod. Hoyle 144 If you are obliged to leave a blot, by having recourse to the Calculations for hitting it, you will find the chances for and against you..Never fail spreading your men, either to take a new point in your table, or to hit a man your adversary may happen to enter.

1889 Spectator 14 Dec. 832 Mr. Morley has hit a blot in our policy.

II. To come upon, light upon, meet with, get at, attain to, reach one's aim, succeed, and the like.This is the Old Norse sense; but with the exception of the single late Old English instance in sense 11, its exemplification in English as a whole is later.

11. transitive. To come upon, light upon, meet with, get at, reach, find, esp. something aimed at.

a. with material object. Frequently in modern (esp. U.S.) colloquial use, to arrive at; also, to go to (a place), go upon (a course). to hit the trail (less commonly the grit, pike, road, etc.): to take the road, to get on the way, to go away.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > aspects of travel > arrival > arrive at or reach [verb (transitive)]

to come toOE

reachOE

hita1075

ofreachlOE

catchc1330

latchc1330

recovera1375

getc1390

henta1393

win?1473

fetch1589

to fetch up1589

obtain1589

attainc1592

make1610

gaina1616

arrive1647

advene1684

strike1798

the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)]

findOE

yfindOE

hita1075

befindc1200

out-findc1300

to try outc1325

to find outa1375

to find upc1390

ascryc1400

outwryc1400

inventc1475

vent1611

to hit off1680

discover1762

to scare up1846

to pick up1869

rumble1897

society > travel > aspects of travel > departure, leaving, or going away > depart, leave, or go away [verb (intransitive)] > set out

forthfarec888

foundOE

seta1000

to go forthOE

to fare forthc1200

partc1230

to pass forthc1325

to take (the) gatec1330

to take the wayc1330

to take one's waya1375

puta1382

treunt?a1400

movec1400

depart1490

prepare?1518

to set forth1530

to set forward(s)1530

busklea1535

to make out1558

to take forth1568

to set out1583

sally1590

start1591

to go off1600

to put forth1604

to start outa1626

intend1646

to take the road1720

to take one's foot in one's hand1755

to set off1774

to get off1778

to set away1817

to take out1855

to haul out1866

to hit the trail (less commonly the grit, pike, road, etc.)1873

to hit, split or take the breeze1910

hop1922

society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct (one's course, steps, etc.) [verb (transitive)] > be bound for or head for

drawc1275

to-hieldc1275

roama1375

pretend1481

pursue1488

to make forth1508

to be in gate to1548

to make to ——a1568

to make unto ——1593

to be for1606

to set one's face for (from, to, towards)1611

steer1667

head1880

a1075 OE. Chron. (MS. D.) anno 1066 Ða com Harold..on unwær on þa Normenn, and hytte hi begeondan Eoforwic, æt Steinford-brygge.

a1527 R. Thorne in R. Hakluyt Divers Voy. (1582) sig. D^v Sayling Northwarde..wee shall hitte these Ilandes.

?1533 G. Du Wes Introductorie for to lerne Frenche sig. Giii ^v To hitte or ouertake, attaindre.

1621 T. W. tr. S. Goulart Wise Vieillard 25 So farre out of the way..that they can hardly hit the right way againe to the..citie of God.

1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 81 The Entrance is so difficult to hit.

1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 138 Egad, I can't hit the Joint.

1797 Capt. Troubridge 25 July in Ld. Nelson Disp. & Lett. (1845) II. 426 (note) From the darkness of the night I did not immediately hit the Mole, the spot appointed to land at.

1852 J. W. Carlyle Lett. II. 195 As soon as I knew where to hit you with a letter.

1873 W. F. Butler Wild North Land xviii. 208 In the morning ‘Twa-poos’, or the Three Thumbs, sets forth to look for a moose; he hits the trail and follows it.

1888 in Amer. Speech (1962) 37 76 Hit the grit, get going; get out of here.

1888 Detroit Free Press Oct. (Farmer) Professor Rose, who hit this town last spring, is around calling us a fugitive from justice.

1889 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang Hit the flat, to (cowboys), to go out on the prairies.

1893 P. H. Emerson On Eng. Lagoons xii. 40 I have been hitting the road something to get here quick.

1896 G. Ade Artie xiv. 127 ‘A little more weather like this and we'll be hittin' the park,’ he observed.

1897 Outing 30 374/1 Men can pass out the church door, shoulder their packs of general cussedness, and unconcernedly hit the trail to the lower [regions].

1901 S. E. White Westerners i. 7 Thought you wasn't no tenderfoot. Ever hit the trail?

1904 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 25 June 6 The..convention, whose delegates were so summarily ordered to hit the pike by the national committee-men.

1907 R. W. Service Songs of Sourdough (1908) 65 It lies with thee—the choice is thine, is thine, To hit the ties or drive thy auto-car.

1910 W. M. Raine Bucky O'Connor 73 Cut loose and hit the pike for yourself.

1918 C. E. Mulford Man from Bar-20 xiii. 131 I was a rich man until I hit town.

1925 P. G. Wodehouse Carry on, Jeeves v. 126 Jimmy Mundy..has come to save New York from itself; to force it—in his picturesque phrase—to hit the trail.

1925 Z. A. Tilghman Dugout 70 I must hit the road.

1931 ‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route 207 Hitting the grit, to be forced off a fast moving train.

1932 T. S. Eliot Sweeney Agonistes 18 We hit this town last night for the first time.

1934 E. Linklater Magnus Merriman 82 Then I hit the pike for home.

1948 G. H. Johnston Death takes Small Bites ii. 54 Go down this corridor, up the stairway at the end, straight on until you hit the second court.

1950 T. Longstaff This my Voy. v. 97 So on May 31st Mumm and I hit the trail once more.

1973 Christian Sci. Monitor 14 Apr. B16/2 These two hit the road together, modern pilgrims making very little progress.

b. with immaterial object.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > find out, discover [verb (transitive)] > quickly, casually

to fall on ——1533

strikea1610

to drop (down) to or on (to)1819

1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 309^v To consyder howe they hytte the truthe sumtyme.

1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) ii. 68 You have hit my meaning right.

1685 Lady Russell Lett. I. xxi. 57 I cannot hit the names of the rest.

1782 J. Priestley Hist. Corruptions Christianity I. ii. 272 Other persons..were able..to hit the happy medium.

1867 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighbourhood I. iii. 60 I never could hit his way of talking to his parishioners.

c. to hit the hay, to go to bed. Also to hit the sack. slang (originally U.S.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > bed related to sleep or rest > go to bed or retire to rest [verb (intransitive)]

to go to (one's) resteOE

to take (one's) restc1175

to go to bedc1275

to lie downc1275

reposec1485

down-lie1505

bed1635

to turn in1695

retire1696

lay1768

to go to roost1829

to turn or peak the flukes1851

kip1889

doss1896

to hit the hay1912

to hit the deck1918

to go down1922

to bunk down1940

to hit the sack1943

to sack out1946

to sack down1956

1912 Dial. Notes 3 578 Hit the hay, to go to bed.

1922 S. Lewis Babbitt xix. 245 You probably want to hit the hay.

1930 ‘Sapper’ Finger of Fate 184 On those two nights we all hit the hay before midnight.

1943 in J. J. Fahey Pacific War Diary (1963) i. 74 I hit the sack at 8 P.M. I slept under the stars on a steel ammunition box two feet wide.

1957 J. Kerouac On the Road i. xiii. 93 Terry and I..got ready to hit the sack.

1961 A. Miller Misfits x. 98 Well, I don't know about you educated people, but us ignorant folks got to hit the sack.

d. to hit the bricks: (a) (see quot. 1950); (b) to go on strike. U.S. slang.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > participate in labour relations [verb (intransitive)] > strike

strike1769

to turn out1795

to strike work, tools1803

stick1823

to come out1841

to go out1850

to down tools1855

to hit the bricks1931

society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > imprison [verb (transitive)] > release from prison > on parole

parole1652

to hit the bricks1931

1931 Amer. Speech 6 439 Hit the bricks, to, to be released from prison.

1946 Seafarers' Log 1 Feb. 4/3 When you hit the bricks in those days you didn't expect to come back aboard real soon.

1946 Seafarers' Log 17 May 6/4 The seamen responded almost unanimously to the strike call with organized and unorganized seamen alike tying up the ships and hitting the bricks.

1950 H. E. Goldin Dict. Amer. Underworld Lingo 97/2 Hit the bricks,..to be paroled, discharged, acquitted, or otherwise set free. ‘Hawk's got a flat bit..so he's gotta hit the bricks.’

1964 Time 2 Oct. 111 The United Auto Workers hit the bricks against giant General Motors.

12. intransitive. With upon, on (†of), in same sense as sense 11a. (With indirect passive.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impact > impinge upon [verb (transitive)]

hita1400

strike1530

check1576

impinge1605

impinge1777

the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > cause mental pain or suffering to [verb (transitive)]

heavyc897

pineeOE

aileOE

sorryeOE

traya1000

sorrowOE

to work (also do) (a person) woeOE

angerc1175

smarta1200

to work, bake, brew balec1200

derve?c1225

grieve?c1225

sitc1225

sweam?c1225

gnawc1230

sughc1230

troublec1230

aggrievea1325

to think sweama1325

unframea1325

anguish1340

teen1340

sowa1352

distrainc1374

to-troublea1382

strain1382

unglad1390

afflicta1393

paina1393

distressa1400

hita1400

sorea1400

assayc1400

remordc1400

temptc1400

to sit (or set) one sorec1420

overthrow?a1425

visit1424

labour1437

passionc1470

arraya1500

constraina1500

misgrievea1500

attempt1525

exagitate1532

to wring to the worse1542

toil1549

lament1580

adolorate1598

rankle1659

try1702

to pass over ——1790

upset1805

to touch (also get, catch, etc.) (a person) on the raw1823

to put (a person) through it1855

bludgeon1888

to get to ——1904

to put through the hoop(s)1919

the world > action or operation > adversity > suffer (adversity or affliction) [verb (transitive)] > afflict > affect or visit with adversity

followOE

waryc1200

hita1400

remord?c1400

visit1424

to lead (a person) the measures1594

conflict1609

to lead a person a life1715

overhit1816

put1841

to put (a person) through it1855

the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > cause of mental anguish or torment > cause anguish to or torment [verb (transitive)] > afflict with pangs

pingeOE

prickOE

bite?c1200

to smite to a person's hearta1225

stingc1386

hita1400

tanga1400

prickle?a1513

pang1520

punch1548

stimulate1548

twinge1647

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > truthfulness, veracity > speak truly [verb (intransitive)] > be right

to have reasonc1475

to get (also have) the right end of the stick1817

to be on the beam1941

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 7152 I wat noght hu he on þam hitte.

c1480 (a1400) St. Clement 836 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 397 Bot one þat place mycht nane of þame hyt.

1553 T. Wilson Arte Rhetorique (1580) 146 In readyng..he hit at length upon himself and the More.

1568 V. Skinner tr. R. González de Montes Discouery Inquisition of Spayne f. 17 So he can hit of the matter.

1616 B. Jonson Epicœne iv. v, in Wks. I. 579 No, but I could hit of some things that thou wilt misse.

1705 tr. W. Bosman New Descr. Coast of Guinea iii. 34 The Means which they chiefly hit upon, and practised.

1715 J. Vanbrugh Country House ii, in Wks. (1840) 464/1 Sure I shall hit of some way to get rid of this crew.

1764 T. Reid Inq. Human Mind vi. §12 Like other facts, they are not to be hit upon by a happy conjecture.

1807 P. Gass Jrnls. 132 We..crossed a large mountain and hit on the creek and small valley, which were wished for by our guide.

1874 A. H. Sayce Princ. Compar. Philol. ii. 69 Hypothesis after hypothesis, until the right one is at length hit upon.

†13. intransitive. To attain the object aimed at or end intended; to ‘hit the mark’. Of events, etc.: to come to the desired end; to succeed; to come off as intended. Obsolete or dialect.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > succeed or be a success [verb (intransitive)]

speedc1175

fayc1300

provec1300

flourishc1400

passc1425

prosper1434

succeedc1450

to take placea1464

to come well to (our) pass1481

shift?1533

hitc1540

walka1556

fadge1573

thrive1587

work1599

to come (good) speedc1600

to go off1608

sort1613

go1699

answer1721

to get along1768

to turn up trumps1785

to come off1854

pan1865

scour1871

arrive1889

to work out1899

to ring the bell1900

to go over1907

click1916

happen1949

c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 2071 Thow se not þat sothely said ys of olde, And ofte happes to hit, qwo so hede tas.

1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iii. ii. 265 Hath all his ventures faild, what not one hit .

1668 C. Sedley Mulberry-garden Prol. The cruel critic and malicious wit, Who think themselves undone if a play hit.

1744 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Apr. xii. 127 This pirky Wheat is often sown after Turneps..and generally hits well.

1842 J. Y. Akerman Gloss. Wiltshire (E.D.S.) (at cited word) The apples hit well t'year.

14. transitive. To attain to an exact imitation or representation of; to imitate exactly or to a nicety. Cf. to hit off 3 at Phrasal verbs.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > representation > [verb (transitive)] > successfully

hit?1602

to touch off1694

to hit off1737

?1602 Narcissus (MS Bodl. Rawl. poet. 212) (1893) 484 Harke how Jumball hitts it [a cry] right.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) v. i. 126 Your Fathers Image is so hit in you.

1623 B. Jonson in W. Shakespeare Comedies, Hist. & Trag. sig. A1^v O, could he but haue drawne his wit As well in brasse, as he hath hit His face.

1645 J. Milton Arcades in Poems 55 If my inferior hand or voice could hit Inimitable sounds.

1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 418. ¶3 It is pleasant to look on the Picture of any Face, where the Resemblance is hit.

1808 J. Wolcot One more Peep at Royal Acad. in Wks. (1812) V. 356 How dares thy hand, that cannot hit The features of a poor Tom tit, Attempt the Eagle's fury in its flight?

1842 J. L. Motley Diary 27 Jan. in Corr. (1889) I. iv. 119 One of the most difficult things in painting is to hit the exact colour of the human face.

15. To fall in with exactly; to suit, fit, be agreeable to.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > suit or be suitable for [verb (transitive)] > exactly

hitc1580

nick1589

c1580 Sir P. Sidney tr. Psalmes David xl. iv [I] sought with deedes thy will to hitt.

1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 506 The dry marle, sorteth well with a moist soile; and the fatty, hitteth that which is dry and lean.

1645 J. Milton Il Penseroso in Poems 37 Hail divinest Melancholy, Whose Saintly visage is too bright To hit the Sense of human sight.

1696 R. Bentley Of Revel. & Messias 25 All the characters must hit and correspond one to another.

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xvi. 160 We did not immediately recollect an historical subject to hit us.

1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xlvi. 69 What vaster dream can hit the mood Of Love on earth?

1884 R. W. Church Bacon i. 20 In the hope..of hitting her taste on some lucky occasion.

†16. intransitive. To fall in suitably or exactly; to coincide; to square with, agree with. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > agree/be in harmony/be congruous [verb (intransitive)]

accord1340

cord1340

concordc1374

agree1447

to stand togetherc1449

rhyme?a1475

commonc1475

gree?a1513

correspond1529

consent1540

cotton1567

pan1572

reciprocate1574

concur1576

meet1579

suit1589

sorta1592

condog1592

square1592

fit1594

congrue1600

sympathize1601

symbolize1605

to go even1607

coherea1616

congreea1616

hita1616

piece1622

to fall in1626

harmonize1629

consist1638

comply1645

shadow1648

quare1651

atonea1657

symphonize1661

syncretize1675

chime1690

jibe1813

consone1873

the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > agree, harmonize, or be congruous with [verb (transitive)]

conspirec1384

accorda1393

to stand with ——c1449

to sit with ——a1500

correspond1545

resound1575

square1583

quader1588

to comport with1591

sympathize1594

beset1597

range1600

even1602

consort1607

to run with ——1614

countenancea1616

hita1616

sympathy1615

filea1625

quadrate?1630

consist1638

commensurate1643

commensure1654

to strike in1704

jig1838

harmonize1852

chime in with1861

equate1934

to tie in1938

to tune in1938

to tie up1958

a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iii. i. 6 A Guift I warrant. Why this hits right: I dreampt of a Siluer Bason & Ewre to night.

1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 274 Plutarch..would never balk a good story, though it did not exactly hit with Chronology.

1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 11 The Scheme hit so exactly with my Temper.

1723 D. Defoe Hist. Col. Jack (ed. 2) 157 Was there nothing in his Case that hit with your own?

17. intransitive. To agree together. Obsolete or dialect.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > statement > agreement, concurrence, or unanimity > be in agreement [verb (intransitive)]

accord1340

cordc1380

to be condescendedc1386

to be consentedc1386

consenta1400

intend1421

onec1450

drawc1480

to be of (also in) one (or a) mind?1496

agreea1513

gree?a1513

to draw by one string1558

conspire1579

to meet witha1586

conclude1586

condog1592

consign1600

centre1652

to be of (another's) mind1717

to go all the way (also the whole way) with1829

to sing the same song1846

the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > agree/be in harmony/be congruous [verb (intransitive)] > come into agreement

to come togetherOE

atonea1616

concentre1615

mesh1944

1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear i. 292 Pray lets hit together.

1758 T. Nevile Imit. Horace i. xviii. 131 Believe me, contraries will never hit; The fop avoid the clown, the dunce the wit.

1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Hit, to agree.

1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby ‘We hit about it’, agreed... ‘Hae ye hitten on yet?’, come to an agreement.

III. To aim, direct one's aim or course.

†18. intransitive. To aim, seek, strive. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > endeavour > make an attempt or endeavour [verb (intransitive)] > strive or struggle

hiec888

to stand inc1175

wrag?c1225

wrestle?c1225

stretcha1375

strivec1384

pressc1390

hitc1400

wring1470

fend15..

battle1502

contend?1518

reluct1526

flichter1528

touse1542

struggle1597

to lay in1599

strain?1606

stickle1613

fork1681

sprattle1786

buffet1824

fight1859

c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 132 Þe wyȝ..Hittez to haue ay more & more.

19.

a. intransitive. To direct one's course, be directed; to pass, turn; to ‘strike’ out, in, in a particular direction. Perhaps now dialect and U.S.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct one's course [verb (intransitive)]

thinkeOE

bowa1000

seta1000

scritheOE

minlOE

turnc1175

to wend one's wayc1225

ettlec1275

hieldc1275

standc1300

to take (the) gatec1330

bear?c1335

applyc1384

aim?a1400

bend1399

hita1400

straighta1400

bounc1400

intendc1425

purposec1425

appliquec1440

stevenc1440

shape1480

make1488

steera1500

course1555

to make out1558

to make in1575

to make for ——a1593

to make forth1594

plyc1595

trend1618

tour1768

to lie up1779

head1817

loop1898

a1400–50 Alexander 445 He sall hit with his hede in-to þe heghe est.

c1400 (?c1380) Patience l. 380 Of a hepe of askes he hitte in þe myddez.

?a1500 Chester Pl. x. 275 Into Egypte till we hitte [E.E.T.S. hytt] The Angel will us leade.

c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 4671 Þai comyn to the cost..and þere hyt into hauyn.

c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 7242 Achilles also afterward rose, Hit on his horse, hurlit into fight.

1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. ii. 119 The Atoms of Fire, or Heat, which penetrate into the Bladder..Why could they not hit out, as well as in, through the same pores?

1713 A. Pope in Guardian 27 Apr. 2/2 Both Spencer and Philips have hit into the same Road with this old West Country Bard of ours.

1895 T. Hardy Jude ii. vi. 136 I've seen her hit in and steer down the long slide on yonder pond.

1905 R. E. Beach Pardners 20 We hit for camp on the run.

1905 R. E. Beach Pardners 48 So me and ‘Kink’ Martin..hit west.

1916 ‘B. M. Bower’ Phantom Herd xiii. 218 When I hit for the land of orange blossoms and singing birds and sunshine.

b. rare. To go, pass. U.S.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > [verb (intransitive)] > pass by

passc1330

to go byc1449

hove1535

forpass1590

1911 H. S. Harrison Queed vii. 86 I've seen you hit by the window many's the time.

IV. Phrases.

20. to hit it.

a. To hit the mark; to guess the right thing; to make a correct conjecture.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > conjecture, guessing > form conjectures, guess [verb (intransitive)] > rightly

to hit it1591

to nick ita1637

1591 J. Florio Second Frutes 25 G. That is stake~money under the line, is it not so? T. Yea sir, you hitt it right.

1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. i. 125 Thou canst not hit it my good man.

1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 199 Guess again... A Girl then... You have hit it.

1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 134 You've just hit it there.

b. (Now usually to hit it off.) To agree. Also more widely, to become friendly, to be on good terms.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > statement > agreement, concurrence, or unanimity > agree with [verb (transitive)]

to go ineOE

cordc1380

consentc1386

covin1393

condescend1477

agree1481

correspond1545

concur1590

to fall in1602

suffrage1614

to hit it1634

colour1639

to take with ——1646

to be with1648

to fall into ——1668

to run in1688

to think with1688

meet1694

coincide1705

to go in1713

to say ditto to1775

to see with ——1802

sympathize1828

the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > be friendly [verb (intransitive)] > become friendly

agree1447

fadge1592

to hit it1634

cotton1648

to draw up1723

to hit it off1780

the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > be friendly [verb (intransitive)] > get on (well)

gree?a1513

to get in with1602

cotton1605

to hitch (also set, or stable) horses together1617

to hit it1634

gee1685

to set horses together1685

to be made for each other (also one another)1751

to hit it off1780

to get ona1805

to hitch horses together1835

niggle1837

to step together1866

to speak (also talk) someone's (also the same) language1893

to stall with1897

cog1926

groove1935

click1954

vibe1986

1634 Earl of Strafford Let. 23 Aug. (1739) I. 299 Would to God our Master could hit it with that Crown.

1668 C. Sedley Mulberry-garden i. i, in Wks. (1722) II. 9 You and I shall never hit it.

1780 C. A. Burney Let. 10 Apr. in F. Burney Early Diary (1889) II. 291 How do you and the great Mrs. Montague hit it off?

1844 A. R. Smith Adventures Mr. Ledbury II. i. 2 The respective wives of these gentlemen never hit it exactly.

1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. I. xi. 188 Tom did not venture to inquire for a day or two how the two hit it off together.

1863 A. Trollope Rachel Ray II. xiv. 297 I am so happy..that you and he have hit it off.

1954 T. S. Eliot Confidential Clerk i. 16 Mr. Kaghan is prejudiced. He's never hit it off with Lady Elizabeth.

c. To attain exactly to the point wanted; to strike the scent in hunting (also hit it off).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (intransitive)] > attain exactly to the point wanted

to hit it1704

the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting with hounds > work done by hounds > action of hounds [verb (intransitive)] > strike scent

scenta1398

find1565

hit it off1704

to hit off a fault1749

to hit off the line1977

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > smallness > [verb (intransitive)] > attain exactly to the point wanted

to hit it1704

1704 R. Steele Lying Lover i. 5 Not ev'ry open handed Fellow hits it neither.

1710 H. Prideaux Orig. & Right Tithes ii. 52 To look through every circumstance necessary to be considered in the adjusting of this point so as exactly to hit it.

18.. Rec. N. Devon Staghounds 65 (W. Som. Word-bk.) The hounds then hit it up the river.

18.. Rec. N. Devon Staghounds 68 (W. Som. Word-bk.) The hounds came to a check, and could never hit it off again.

d. To travel at speed. U.S.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > riding in a vehicle > ride in a vehicle [verb (intransitive)] > at speed

smoke1697

highball1911

to hit it1911

barrel1930

1911 J. C. Lincoln Cap'n Warren's Wards iii. 39 They nabbed us for speeding... Said we were hitting it at fifty an hour.

21.

a. to hit the mark (also nail, needle, pin); to hit the nail upon (or on) the head, usually figurative.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > advantage > efficacy > be efficacious [verb (intransitive)]

workOE

availa1400

makea1400

prevaila1400

to hit the nail upon (or on) the headc1450

effect1592

serve1593

to tickle it1601

take1611

executea1627

to have force (to do)1713

answer1721

to take place1789

to do the trick1819

to hit (also go to, touch, etc.) the spot1836

produce1881

to press (also push) the button1890

to come through1906

to turn the trick1933

to make a (also the) point1991

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > exactness, accuracy, precision > be exact [phrase]

to hit the nail upon (or on) the headc1450

to the notch1790

the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > succeed or be a success [verb (intransitive)] > achieve success (of persons)

speed993

achievec1300

escheve?a1400

succeed1509

to turn up trumps1595

fadge1611

to nick ita1637

to hit the mark (also nail, needle, pin)1655

to get on1768

to reap, win one's laurels1819

to go a long way1859

win out1861

score1882

to make it1885

to make a ten-strike1887

to make the grade1912

to make good1914

to bring home the bacon1924

to go places1931

c1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 138 Now be myn trowthe ȝe hytte the pynne.

?1529 Proper Dyaloge Gentillman & Husbandman sig. A viij Thou hyttest the nayle vpon the heed For that is the thinge that they dreed.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xxii. sig. Vu4^v Indeed she had hit the needle in that deuise.

1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 75 That we commonly call hitting the eight on the face, when we come to an eight, and skip vp from it agayne to another perfect concord.

1614 T. Overbury et al. Characters in Wife now Widdow sig. E His eyes are all white,..to keep Cupid from hitting the blacke.

1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. ii. 99 Venerable was found out as an Expedient to accommodate the Difference, luckily hitting the Mark, as a Title neither too high, nor too low.

1680 H. More Apocalypsis Apocalypseos 54 This Bow-man hat the mark, when the Emperour Constantine turned Christian.

a1865 E. C. Gaskell Wives & Daughters (1866) I. iv. 43 He was rash..hitting the nail on the head sometimes.

b. to hit one in the teeth: to reproach one (with a thing), throw it in one's teeth (see tooth n.).

22.

a. hit or miss: Whether one hits or misses; at random, at haphazard, happy-go-lucky. (Cf. hitty-missy adv. and adj.) Also attributive and substantive.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > chance [phrase] > by chance

by perchance1495

at a venture1517

per accidens1528

at hazard (also hazards)a1533

at random1543

by occasion1562

at range1568

by the way1572

by (also at) (a) peradventurea1586

hit or miss1609

at the by1611

hob-nob1660

hit and miss1897

1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. iii. 377 But hit or misse, Our proiects life this shape of sence assumes.

1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 115 Whose practise in Physick is nothing but the Countrey dance, call'd Hit or Misse.

1705 E. Hickeringill Priest-craft (1721) i. 14 Do we all march towards Heaven hit or miss, and by guess?

1848 in Amer. Speech (1935) 10 40/2 Hit-or-miss-carpet, a carpet woven from strips of old cloth sewed together.

1864 Harper's Mag. June 60/1 My husband is Colonel of the Third Regiment in the Hit-or-Miss Brigade, United States Cavalry.

1873 ‘Ouida’ Pascarèl II. 42 It is not the happy-go-lucky hit-or-miss sort of thing that you may fancy.

1927 J. Adams Errors in School 211 Hit-or-miss method.

1955 A. L. Rowse Expansion of Elizabethan Eng. 399 They were impulsive, chancy, amateurish, very much hit-or-miss.

1959 P. Bull I know Face vii. 114 It was much a hit-or-miss part.

1967 R. R. Karch & E. J. Buber Graphic Arts Procedures: Offset Processes v. 168 Motor-driven lenses, or hit-or-miss methods involving tricky out-of-focus photographic and lighting techniques are used.

b. hit and miss = hit or miss at sense 22a. Also (with hyphens) attributive and spec., as hit-and-miss governor n. a type of governor used in internal-combustion engines which causes the engine to miss one or more explosions when the speed is too great. hit-and-miss ventilator n. (see quots.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > chance [phrase] > by chance

by perchance1495

at a venture1517

per accidens1528

at hazard (also hazards)a1533

at random1543

by occasion1562

at range1568

by the way1572

by (also at) (a) peradventurea1586

hit or miss1609

at the by1611

hob-nob1660

hit and miss1897

society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > [noun] > parts of > other parts

thermo-siphon1834

crank-case1878

manifolda1884

hot tube1889

sump1894

hit-and-miss governor1897

engine pit1903

retard1903

head1904

gasket1915

gravity tank1917

cylinder block1923

transfer case1923

swirl chamber1934

manifolding1938

ignition switch1952

catalytic converter1955

small block1963

cat1988

the world > matter > gas > air > fresh air > [noun] > supplying fresh air or ventilation > ventilator > slotted disc

hit-and-miss ventilator1909

1897 W. E. Barton Hero in Homespun 377 They ripped up the new hit-an'-miss carpet for horse blankets.

1897 R. M. Stuart In Simpkinsville 156 Takin' 'em hit and miss, we wouldn't know the diff'rence hardly.

1902 J. E. Hutton in A. C. Harmsworth et al. Motors & Motor-driving (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) viii. 162 Many of these engines have now the ordinary hit and miss exhaust governor as well.

1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Hit-and-miss ventilator, a window ventilator consisting of a perforated glass disk, lying flat against, and pivoted through its center to, a correspondingly perforated window.

1931 Discovery Sept. 298/1 [Without these criteria] the procedure would be unnecessarily hit-and-miss.

1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 417/2 Hit-and-miss ventilator, a ventilating device consisting of a slotted plate over which may be moved another slotted plate, so that the openings for access of air may be more or less restricted as required.

1955 W. W. Denlinger Compl. Boston 156 Hit-and-miss, take-a-chance breedings are fewer.

1956 G. Taylor Silver iii. 53 A simple pattern, often seen on Communion Cups, consists of rows of ‘hit and miss’ ornament.

1970 Morning Star 11 July 2 The pedlars of such gifts are only worried about the wastage involved..and the general hit-and-miss aspect of the whole business.

23. Various phrases.

a. to hit the pipe: to smoke opium. Also to hit the gong, gow, stuff: to take drugs. So to hit cigarettes: to smoke heavily. U.S. slang.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > take drugs [verb (intransitive)] > take opium

to hit the pipe1886

the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > take drugs [verb (intransitive)]

sleigh-ride1845

drug1893

dope1909

to hit the gong, gow, stuff1933

use1951

to get down1952

to turn on1954

goof1962

joy-pop1962

to drop acid1966

the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > smoke [verb (intransitive)] > heavily or too much

to smoke like a chimney1840

oversmoke1895

to hit cigarettes1939

1886 T. F. Byrnes Professional Crim. of Amer. 385 Joe did not ‘hit the pipe’.

1902 Chicago Record Herald 7 Sept. vi. 5/2 On each bunk two almond-eyed devotees of the drug may be seen ‘hitting the pipe’, as opium smoking is termed.

1926 N. Lucas London & its Criminals x. 134 So ‘Izzy’ had come to ‘hitting the pipe’. I knew he had many vices, but I did not know that opium was one of them.

1933 Amer. Speech 8 ii. 27/1 When one has contracted the [drug] habit..he is..hitting the gow.

1933 Amer. Speech 8 ii. 27/2 When the opium addict is smoking he is said to be hitting the gong.

1936 Amer. Speech 11 122/2 To hit the stuff, to be addicted to narcotics... The act of taking dope.

1939 Amer. Speech (1942) 17 206/1 Bill is hitting cigarets some.

1949 Sunday World-Herald Mag. (Omaha, Nebraska) 3 Apr. 2/1 Opium smokers are considered at a low level..but a guy who profits when he hits the pipe is the plumber.

b. to hit the booze, bottle, jug, pot: to drink excessively. slang (originally and chiefly U.S.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [verb (intransitive)]

to drink deepa1300

bousec1300

bibc1400

to drink drunk1474

quaff1520

to set cock on the hoopa1535

boll1535

quass1549

tipple1560

swillc1563

carouse1567

guzzle1579

fuddle1588

overdrink1603

to drink the three outs1622

to bouse it1623

sota1639

drifflec1645

to drink like a fisha1653

tope1668

soak1687

to play at swig1688

to soak one's clay (or face)1704

impote1721

rosin1730

dram1740

booze1768

to suck (also sup) the monkey1785

swattle1785

lush1811

to lift up the little finger1812

to lift one's (or the) elbow1823

to crook one's elbow or little finger1825

jollify1830

to bowse up the jib1836

swizzle1847

peg1874

to hit the booze, bottle, jug, pot1889

to tank up1902

sozzle1937

to belt the bottle1941

indulge1953

1889 Morning Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 14 Oct. 3/1 If Dasher gets a dozen or more customers with his own appetite for hitting the booze he will have no trouble making it go.

1908 J. M. Sullivan Criminal Slang 13 Hitting the pots, excessive drinking.

1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §102.22 Drink liquor, esp. intemperately,..hit the booze,..bottle.

1942 R. Chandler High Window (1943) x. 78 We were kind of hitting the bottle a little.

1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues 374 Hit the jug, drink heavily, often from the bottle; have a drink.

1956 A. Christie Dead Man's Folly iii. 40 The most incredible shirts..covered with crawling turtles and things—made me think I'd been hitting the bottle.

1957 Landfall XI. 38 Everyone knew he'd turn out a flop... Hit the booze and got T.B.

1965 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Nov. 1068/2 We are ‘wild spiders crying together’..who must crack or hit the bottle.

c. to hit the ceiling: see ceiling n. 5b.

d. to hit the headlines: see headline n.² 6a.

e. to hit the deck: (a) to go to bed; (b) to land an aircraft; (c) to fall to the ground; (d) to get up (from bed). colloquial.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > bed related to sleep or rest > go to bed or retire to rest [verb (intransitive)]

to go to (one's) resteOE

to take (one's) restc1175

to go to bedc1275

to lie downc1275

reposec1485

down-lie1505

bed1635

to turn in1695

retire1696

lay1768

to go to roost1829

to turn or peak the flukes1851

kip1889

doss1896

to hit the hay1912

to hit the deck1918

to go down1922

to bunk down1940

to hit the sack1943

to sack out1946

to sack down1956

the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > bed related to sleep or rest > go to bed or retire to rest [verb (intransitive)] > get up or rise

arisec950

riseOE

risec1175

uprisea1400

to dress upc1400

rouse1577

to get up1583

up1635

unroost1751

to turn out1801

to show a leg1818

to roll out1884

to hit the deck1918

society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > specific flying operations or procedures > [verb (intransitive)] > land

land1784

alight1786

to sit down1926

to put down1933

to touch down1933

to hit the deck1943

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > fall [verb (intransitive)] > fall down or from erect position > specifically of person or animal

to light lowc1225

wendc1300

to seek to the earth or groundc1330

tumblea1375

stretchc1400

to take a fall1413

to blush to the eartha1500

to come down1603

to go to grassa1640

to be floored1826

to take a spilla1845

to come (fall, get) a cropper1858

to hunt grass1872

to come (also have) a buster1874

to hit the deck1954

1918 Sat. Evening Post 21 Dec. 29 The sergeants and corporals emphasized the command to rise with sharp injunctions to ‘Snap out of it!’, ‘Hit the deck!’

1935 W. de la Mare in Proc. Brit. Acad. 247 He hit the deck; he slung his hammock; he went to bed;..they all signify much the same thing.

1943 C. H. Ward-Jackson It's a Piece of Cake 36 Hit the deck, to land [an aircraft].

1954 Manch. Guardian Weekly 4 Mar. 2/1 The whole House fell on its knees or went prone behind desks, as one Pacific veteran shouted out: ‘Hit the deck, you damn fools!’

1956 Amer. Speech 31 193 Hit the deck!, wake up; begin working; jump to the floor.

1958 F. C. Avis Boxing Ref. Dict. (U.S. ed.) 53 Hit the deck, a slang expression meaning to fall to the ring floor.

1961 F. H. Burgess Dict. Sailing 115 Hit the deck, take an upper-deck siesta.

1966 ‘J. Hackston’ Father clears Out 52 I'm going to hit the deck now, and I'm going to turn the lamp out.

f. to hit the silk: see quot. 1941. colloquial.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > air or space travel > parachuting > parachute [verb (intransitive)] > jump out of aircraft > in emergency

to bail out1925

to take to or hit the silk1933

to hit the silk1941

to step out1942

to punch out1964

1941 Amer. Speech 16 166/2 Hit the silk, use a parachute.

1958 ‘P. Bryant’ Two Hours to Doom 104 If it came to the worst, they could always drop altitude and hit the silk.

g. to hit off the line: see line n.² Additions a.

Compounds

hit-wicket n. Cricket the act of hitting the wicket with the bat or a part of the person, by which the batter is ‘out’.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > dismissal of batsman > [noun] > manner of dismissal

hit-wicket1773

stumping1844

run-out1851

stump-out1859

catch and bowl1868

obstructing the field (also the ball)1868

1773 in Q. Rev. No. 316. 469 [We find] ‘hit wicket’ [scored for the first time in a match between Hambledon and England in 1773].

1850 ‘Bat’ Cricketer's Man. (rev. ed.) 47 The hitter is given out as ‘hit wicket’.

1897 K. S. Ranjitsinhji Jubilee Bk. Cricket vi. 274 The umpire at the bowler's end is the proper person to be appealed to..in all cases except those of stumping, hit-wicket, and run out.

Phrasal verbs

With adverbs in specialized senses. to hit in

†1. transitive. To thrust in, push in with a stroke. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > insertion or putting in > insert or put in [verb (transitive)] > forcibly > drive or strike in

insmitec1384

to hit ina1400

a1400–50 Alexander 512 Þan wendis þar-out a litill worm & wald it eft enter, And or scho hit in hire hede a hard deth suffirs.

2. intransitive. To strike in: see 19.

3. Polo. (See quot. 1963.)

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > equestrian sports except racing > polo > play polo [verb (transitive)] > actions

crook1890

to hit in1906

ride-off1909

1906 T. B. Drybrough Polo (rev. ed.) xiv. 279 A ball once over the side-boards is out, although it rebounds in or is hit in by a player before it touches the ground.

1930 Hurlingham Club Rules of Polo (ed. 43) iii. 60 (heading) Explanation of terms... ‘Hit in’ means ‘to hit the ball into the field of play’.

1963 L. F. Bloodgood & P. Santini Horseman's Dict. 104 Hit in, in polo to hit the ball into the field of play; not to bowl it in under-hand.

to hit off

1. transitive. To produce or throw off with success.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > make a success of [verb (transitive)]

shift?1533

to pass muster1573

to give a good account of (something, often oneself)1601

to hit off1700

to make a job of1736

to make a do of1834

to make a go of it1836

cut1900

the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > produce or bring forth > with ease, speed, or success, or in large quantities

whip1611

to work off1653

to hit off1700

dispatchc1710

to throw off1724

to run off1759

to turn off1825

to turn out1847

to run out1872

to churn out1912

proliferate1912

slug1925

whomp1955

gurgitate1963

1700 W. Congreve Way of World iii. i. 42 We hit off a little Wit now and then, but no Animosity.

1822 M. A. Kelty Osmond I. 87 You used to be rather au fait at hitting off a sonnet.

2. To succeed in attaining or getting at or upon. (Said esp. of striking the scent in hunting.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)]

findOE

yfindOE

hita1075

befindc1200

out-findc1300

to try outc1325

to find outa1375

to find upc1390

ascryc1400

outwryc1400

inventc1475

vent1611

to hit off1680

discover1762

to scare up1846

to pick up1869

rumble1897

1680 J. Dryden Kind Keeper iv. i. 42 You have been pricking up and down here upon a cold scent; but, at last, you have hit it off, it seems.

1690 W. Temple Ess. Heroick Virtue iv. 101 in Miscellanea: 2nd Pt. What Prince soever can hit of this great Secret, needs know no more.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. x. vi. 52 It happens to this Sort of Men, as to bad Hounds, who never hit off a Fault themselves.

1815 Sporting Mag. 45 299 The hounds again hit off the scent.

1879 F. T. Pollok Sport Brit. Burmah I. 69 We started at daybreak..and soon hit off a trail.

3. To describe, represent, or reproduce successfully or to a nicety.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > representation > [verb (transitive)] > successfully

hit?1602

to touch off1694

to hit off1737

the mind > language > speech > narration > description or act of describing > describe [verb (transitive)]

sayOE

devisec1300

readc1300

to make (a) showing ofc1330

counterfeitc1369

expressc1386

scrievec1390

descrya1400

scrya1400

drawa1413

representc1425

describec1450

report1460

qualify?1465

exhibit1534

perscribe1538

to set out1545

deline1566

delineate1566

decipher1567

denotate1599

lineate16..

denote1612

givea1616

inform?1615

to shape out1633

speaka1637

display1726

to hit off1737

1737 D. Waterland Rev. Doctr. Eucharist 81 He has very well hit off the Sense.

1831 T. B. Macaulay in Life & Lett. (1883) I. 233 I never saw a character so thoroughly hit off.

1871 S. Smiles Character x. 275 Sometimes he hits off an individual trait by an anecdote.

4. See also senses 1b, 20b, 8c.

to hit out

†1. transitive. To knock out. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impact > striking > strike [verb (transitive)] > strike out with a blow

latcha1225

slentc1380

to hit out1393

squat?1553

slat1577

to knock outa1616

king1916

1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. xxi. 386 And ho so hitteþ out a mannes eye oþer elles hus for-teþ.

1704 J. Pitts True Acct. Mohammetans vii. 98 I have hit out the Devils Eyes already.

†2. To bring out, come out with. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > manifestation > showing to the sight > exposure to public view > expose to public view [verb (transitive)]

to put forth?c1225

to hit out1579

to set a-sunshining1601

to put forward1611

to hold out1613

expose1623

theatrizea1679

produce1686

parade1765

to bring forward1783

1579 E. K. in E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Ep. Ded. He mought needes in singing hit out some of theyr tunes.

3. To strike out, elicit.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > place > removal or displacement > extraction > extract [verb (transitive)] > strike or knock out

to knock outa1616

rap1795

to hit out1838

1838 J. Keble Occas. Papers (1877) 31 [She] hit out the spark which has now become such an orb of poetical fame.

4. intransitive. To strike out with the fist. Also figurative to deal heavy blows at, to attack vigorously.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impact > striking > strike or deliver blows [verb (intransitive)] > strike out

flingc1380

bursta1450

to lash out1567

belay1598

outlash1611

slash1689

to throw out1772

to let out1840

to hit out1856

sock1856

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > make attack [verb (intransitive)] > attack with words, etc.

to let fly1590

to fall aboard1591

to hit out1856

1856 C. Reade It is never too Late I. xv. 290 No! give me a chap that hits out straight from the shoulder.

1873 Punch 10 May 190/1 Mr. Torrens hit out at Mr. Lowe.

a1895 Ld. C. E. Paget Autobiogr. (1896) vi. 188 A member [of Parliament] should hit out seldom but hit hard.

to hit up

1. To force up; to speed up. With it: to put on pressure; to make efforts in a certain direction.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > rate of motion > move at specific rate [verb (transitive)] > put on (speed) > accelerate

festinate1556

accelerate1570

quicken1605

swiften1638

urgea1721

press1742

smarten1825

speed1856

to hit up1893

the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > exert oneself or make an effort [verb (intransitive)] > make efforts in a certain direction

to hit up1893

1893 W. K. Post Harvard Stories 49 I could hear him objurgating Steve Hudson for hitting up the stroke.

1893 W. K. Post Harvard Stories 146 When you are doing better than three and a half [miles an hour], you are hitting it up pretty well.

1904 F. Lynde Grafters xx. 257 Two days after the Universal's triumph in the Belmount field, the Argus began to ‘hit it up’ boldly toward the capital.

1912 C. E. Mulford & J. W. Clay Buck Peters, Ranchman iii. 63 Hit her up or you'll be late.

1918 in F. A. Pottle Stretchers (1930) 270 Back he went, while we waited. When he got back with his jam, we hit it up again. It seemed miles before we got anywhere.

2. To make or score (runs).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > bat [verb (transitive)] > score runs

fetch1735

run1752

to knock up1837

to knock off1851

to run out1856

to hit off1857

rattle1860

compile1884

to hit up1895

slog1897

1895 Westm. Gaz. 9 May 5/3 Hearne..had hit up 8 runs when he lost Wright.

1899 Daily News 9 June 6/7 They were batting all day, and hit up 397 for the loss of seven wickets.

1928 Evening News 18 Aug. 10/5 Middlesex hit up 365 in the first day's play.

3. to hit (a person) up for: to ask (someone) for. U.S. and New Zealand slang.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > request > request or ask for [verb (transitive)]

yearnOE

bid971

seek971

askOE

beseechc1175

banc1275

yerec1275

cravec1300

desirec1330

impetrec1374

praya1382

nurnc1400

pleadc1400

require1400

fraynec1430

proke1440

requisitea1475

wishc1515

supply1546

request1549

implore?c1550

to speak for ——1560

entreat1565

impetratec1565

obtest?1577

solicit1595

invoke1617

mendicate1618

petition1621

imprecate1636

conjurea1704

speer1724

canvass1768

kick1792

I will thank you to do so-and-so1813

quest1897

to hit a person up for1917

1917 Chrons. N.Z.E.F. 5 Sept. 28/1 We hit him up for a loan for weeks afterwards and he always came to light too.

1935 C. W. T. Craig Paraguayan Interlude xxv. 291 I..hit him up for a job, and here I am.

1936 J. Steinbeck In Dubious Battle 108 Don't hit 'im up for anything else but breakfast.

1957 I. Cross God Boy (1958) xii. 98 ‘I'll have to hit my old man up for a new bike,’ he said.

1972 M. J. Bosse Incident at Naha iii. 135 She hit me up for bread.

Draft additions September 2003

colloquial (originally U.S.). to hit the ground running: (literal) to land on the ground and begin to run immediately, esp. as a means of preserving one's momentum; (figurative) to begin and proceed rapidly, confidently, and resolutely; to make a brisk or successful start; (of a politician or administration) to embark upon a course of action immediately after election or appointment.

ΚΠ

1895 Sandusky (Ohio) Reg. 30 Apr. 6/4 The bullet went under me. I knew he had five more cartridges, so I hit the ground running and squatted low down when his gun barked a second time.

1935 Washington Post 2 June (Parade of Youth Mag.) 7/2 The bum dropped off while the train was still travelling at a good speed... He..swung down from the ladder at the end of the baggage car and hit the ground running. It took him a dozen paces to check his speed.

1942 Times 4 Aug. 4/5 The swift Japanese penetration is not surprising... As the official spokesman phrased it this morning: ‘The Japanese hits the ground running, and he runs until he is stopped.’

1960 R. W. Jones in Civil Service Jrnl. July–Sept. 2 (heading) 1961 top team must ‘hit the ground running’.

1980 Forbes (Nexis) 28 Apr. 36 Come Inauguration Day, he should hit the ground running.

1993 Pittsburgh Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 10 Mar. n11 Peter Smith jumps from his moving car and hits the ground running, a pursuer hot on his trail.

2000 C. Hanger World Food: Morocco 156 Don't plan on hitting the ground running, especially if you're on a long trip. It's worth allowing yourself time to adjust physically and mentally to your new environment and lifestyle.

Draft additions December 2002

colloquial (originally U.S.). to hit on: to make romantic or sexual advances towards.

ΚΠ

1959 Esquire Nov. 70 To hit on a chick means to try and get intimate with her.

1971 D. Wells & S. Dance Night People (1991) v. 79 I saw a little wayback hit on you. In fact, she told me she had eyes for you.

1976 in D. Wepman et al. Life 38 Go hit on one of them Indian bitches.

1992 D. Parry & P. Withrow Jacamar Nest xii. 101 The guy was a complete jerk. Always hitting on women. Even hit on my wife. You never seen my wife, but I'll tell you a guy's gotta be a jerk to try that.

2000 Ralph 7 July 43/2 If a good friend's ex-boyfriend hit on me I wouldn't go out with him because I'd think he was on the rebound and I'm just the closest thing to bounce off.

Draft additions September 2003

colloquial (originally and chiefly Australian and New Zealand). to hit one's straps: (esp. in Sport) to perform as well as one can; to hit one's stride; (also) to get going, to get a move on.

ΚΠ

1987 Sydney Morning Herald 26 Sept. 11/1 (heading) On radio he is king, the $3 million man, but the corporate John Laws has only just begun to hit his straps.

1988 D. McGill Dict. Kiwi Slang 56 Hit your straps, to take off quickly; possibly from earlier meaning of looking for one's swag-straps, meaning to consider looking for another job.

1992 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 24 Oct. 39 A number of our players have not hit their straps for whatever reason, but they know that if they don't do it shortly, they'll no longer be part of the team.

1999 Dominion (Wellington, N.Z.) (Nexis) 10 Mar. 52 I've told our guys to remember the Wales win against France... Miracles can happen and sooner or later we are going to hit our straps.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online September 2021).

单词	hit
释义	hitn. Forms: Also Middle English hete, 1500s–1700s hitt. Etymology: < hit v. 1. a. A blow given to something aimed at; a stroke (at cricket, billiards, etc.); the collision or impact of one body with another. hit-in (in Polo), the hitting of the ball into the field of play. (Cf. to hit in 3 at hit v. Phrasal verbs). hit off (in Hockey), the first stroke, which begins the game. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impact > striking > [noun] > a stroke or blow dintc897 swengOE shutec1000 kill?c1225 swipc1275 stroke1297 dentc1325 touchc1325 knock1377 knalc1380 swapc1384 woundc1384 smitinga1398 lush?a1400 sowa1400 swaipa1400 wapc1400 smita1425 popc1425 rumbelowc1425 hitc1450 clope1481 rimmel1487 blow1488 dinga1500 quartera1500 ruska1500 tucka1500 recounterc1515 palta1522 nolpc1540 swoop1544 push1561 smot1566 veny1578 remnant1580 venue1591 cuff1610 poltc1610 dust1611 tank1686 devel1787 dunching1789 flack1823 swinge1823 looder1825 thrash1840 dolk1861 thresh1863 mace-blow1879 pulsation1891 nosebleeder1921 slosh1936 smackeroo1942 dab- society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > [noun] > manner of playing ball bata1400 back-swing1577 banding1589 stroke1662 stop1773 swipe1788 hit1810 straik1820 screwing1825 return1833 volleying1837 return stroke1838 volley1851 swiper1853 shot1868 handling1870 screw kick1870 mishit1882 smash1882 misfield1886 fumble1895 run-up1897 mishitting1900 balloon1904 carryback1905 placement1909 tonk1922 trick shot1924 retrieve1952 sizzler1960 undercut1960 shotmaking1969 society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > hockey > [noun] > bully-off or hit-off bully1883 hit off1893 centre bully1897 society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > equestrian sports except racing > polo > [noun] > actions knock-out1894 safety1896 hit-in1930 crook1935 c1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 185 To hym wyl I go, and ȝeve hym suche an hete That alle the lechis of the londe his lyf xul nevyr restore. 1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Colpo, a blow, a stroke, a hit. 1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet v. ii. 232 A hit, a most palpable hit. 1681 C. Cotton Wonders of Peake 32 How deep..By tumbling down stones..Till the first hit strikes the astonisht ear, Like Thunder under-ground. 1810 Sporting Mag. 36 195 The navigator could plant but few hits. 1811 Sporting Mag. 37 92 He..can only be denied by a hit down. 1850 ‘Bat’ Cricketer's Man. (rev. ed.) 46 Whatever byes result from the hit, go to the hit. 1879 F. T. Pollok Sport Brit. Burmah I. 229 We..made some very disgraceful misses, and again some very pretty hits. 1893 Westm. Gaz. 22 Feb. 11/2 The annual encounter..at hockey..Hit off will be at half-past two. 1930 Hurlingham Club Rules of Polo (ed. 43) iii. 63 Penalty 2, by the side fouled—a hit in from behind by the other side..the defending side being free to place themselves where they choose. 1937 Times 16 July 5/5 Captain Morrison, after meeting a hit-in by Major Harrison put Adsdean further ahead with a stupendous shot under his pony's neck. 1959 Times 18 May 2/1 Lucas met a hit-in to score early in the second chukka. b. A dose of a narcotic drug; the action of obtaining or administering such a dose. Also attributive, as hit-mark n. the scar from an injection of a drug. slang (originally U.S.). ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun] > a dose of jolt1916 bhang1922 charge1929 fix1934 fix-up1934 joy-pop1939 hit1951 spoon1968 the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [noun] > scar > of injection needle mark1855 puncture mark1859 needle track1888 hit-mark1962 needle scar1962 track1964 1951 Nat. Educ. Assoc. U.S. Jrnl. May 342/2 They are anxious to make a ‘connection’, ‘score’ or ‘hit’. 1962 ‘E. McBain’ Like Love (1964) ix. 119 A narcotics cop will insist on examining a prostitute's thighs for hit marks, even when he knows she couldn't possibly be a junkie. 1966 L. Cohen Beautiful Losers (1970) i. 106 They rustled among their veins for one that still carried blood, tapped the needles under the flesh, waited for the red signal of a ‘hit’, and then squirted the solution into circulation. 1970 Daily Tel. 27 Apr. 4/8 In San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, the hippie Mecca, the price of one ‘hit’ has dropped from 12s to 2s 6d. 1972 Southerly 32 103 Somebody hands me a joint and I take a hit and hand it to Marlene who takes a hit. 1972 C. Weston Poor, Poor Ophelia (1973) ii. 15 You're blind! You have to wait for a report to see the hit marks? c. A killing; a robbery. Also attributive, as hit list n. (a) a list of persons to be assassinated; (b) transferred a list or group of persons, etc., against which some concerted action is intended; a list of objectives. hit-man n. a hired murderer. hit squad n. a group of esp. politically-motivated assassins or kidnappers; also transferred. slang (originally U.S.). ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > killing > [noun] mortifyingc1384 perishingc1384 slayinga1400 interfectionc1450 dispatchment1529 killingc1540 dispatch1576 unliving1599 martyring1607 taking offa1616 enecation1657 exanimation1670 (to get) the chop or chopper1945 wipeout1968 hit1970 society > communication > record > list > [noun] > methodical or catalogue schedule1516 Christ-cross-row1579 catalogue1667 matricularya1676 schemea1676 catalogue raisonné1784 cumulation1900 schematization1940 hit list1970 the world > life > death > killing > man-killer or homicide > [noun] > murderer or assassin banea800 murthereOE quellerOE manslaughta1225 manquellec1275 murderer1340 Cainc1380 drepera1400 sicariana1400 murder mana1450 interfector1450 murdrier1481 murdresara1500 assassin1531 cut-throat1535 cutter1569 baner1605 brave1606 bravo1609 dagger-mana1616 assassinate1621 assassinator1651 sword-taker1660 assassinant1662 banesman1870 hatchet man1876 murdermonger1900 hit-man1970 mechanic1972 contract killer1980 the mind > will > intention > [noun] > intention or purpose > end, purpose, or object > list of objectives hit list1970 the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > [noun] > act or instance of robbinga1300 ravina1325 robberya1325 burgh-brechea1387 reif1533 hoist1714 jump1777 speak1811 trick1865 clean-up1928 heist1930 knock-off1969 hit1970 the world > life > death > killing > man-killing or homicide > murder or assassination > [noun] > list of persons to be murdered hit list1970 the world > life > death > killing > man-killer or homicide > [noun] > murderer or assassin > group of hit squad1970 the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [noun] > violent treatment or force > masterful or bullying > person > collectively, spec. hit squad1970 1970 Sunday Truth (Brisbane) 8 Mar. 32/5 The Mafia cringe at the way our boys carry out their hits. 1971 D. MacKenzie Sleep is for Rich vi. 186 I got scared and called the whole thing off. Someone else must have made the hit. 1976 Time 5 Jan. 46/1 One intelligence official..bitterly labeled Counterspy's roster of CIA agents as nothing more or less than ‘a hit list’.1977 Time 6 June 11/1 A particular sore point was Carter's original ‘hit list’ of 32 water projects. The President compromised and restored 14 of the originally doomed projects.1978 Guardian Weekly 26 Nov. 7/1 ZANU, one of two Rhodesian nationalist guerrilla organisations, meanwhile issued a ‘hit list’ of supporters of the interim Government, describing them as ‘priority military targets’.1985 Times Educ. Suppl. 19 July 1/2 By the time talks resume..the Government's ‘hit list’ of rate-capped authorities in 1986 to 1987 would be published.1970 J. Philips Nightmare at Dawn (1971) ii. 97 He was..a hired gun, a hit-man.1973 Daily Tel. 25 July 4/8 Bryant is alleged to have been a ‘hit man’ (assassin) for drug traffickers and to have carried out a ‘contract’ to kill Finley.1976 Times 19 Apr. 6/5 Apart from the attempts to kill Major Muhayshi in Tunisia, a Libyan hit squad sought him out in London in February.1981 Internat. Herald Tribune 20 Nov. 6/4 Venezuelan democrats..had to overthrow military dictatorships to gain power, and then defeat Castroite insurgents and rightist hit squads to keep it.1985 T. Lundberg Starting in Business i. 14 The Government..then has to..set up Mr Tebbit's hit squads. 2. A stroke of sarcasm, censure, rebuke, etc. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > criticism > [noun] > instance of > sharp quippy1519 quip1532 snack?1554 gird1566 pincha1568 quib1656 hitc1668 snapper1817 shy1840 shot1841 swipe1892 jab1905 licks1971 c1668 in Roxburghe Ballads (1892) VII. 381 'Tis Wit for Wit, and Hit for Hit. 1673 R. Leigh Transproser Rehears'd 139 His snip~snap wit, hit for hit. 1800 Sporting Mag. 15 265 We have received a number of hits about the soup or broth shops. 1873 A. Helps Some Talk about Animals & their Masters iv. 101 In Hudibras there is a sly hit at the sayings of the philosophers. 3. a. A stroke of good luck which one hits upon or meets with; a fortunate chance. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > prosperity > [noun] > good fortune > piece of opportunity?a1425 honeyfall1642 luck in a bag1649 hit1666 godsend1810 stroke of luck1853 bonanza1878 lucky break1889 break1911 a bit of fat1923 snip1932 1666 S. Pepys Diary 1 June (1972) VII. 140 To lament the loss of the opportunity of the last year; which..all might have been such a height as will never come again in this age. 1684 T. Burnet Theory of Earth ii. 294 A lucky hit indeed, for chance to frame a world! 1704 tr. A. de Ovalle Of Kingdom of Chile in A. Churchill & J. Churchill Coll. Voy. III. 9/1 One of these Hits is enough to Enrich a Family. 1875 W. D. Whitney Life & Growth of Lang. vii. 120 Such words..which only by a lucky hit gain life and a career. b. to look to (or mind) one's hits: to look to one's chances. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > advantage > an opportunity > have opportunity [verb (intransitive)] > look to one's chances to have an eye to the wood1578 to look to (or mind) one's hits1699 1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 190 He should have minded his hits better, when he was minded to act the Tyrant. 1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew at Eye To have an Eye to the main Chance, or look to your Hits. 1765 C. Johnstone Chrysal III. i. ii. 10 If I mind my hits this trip, I shall be as rich as the best of them. 1840 F. Trollope Widow Married III. xxiii. 14 You had better mind your hits between mama and me. 4. a. A successful stroke made in action or performance of any kind; esp. any popular success (a person, a play, a song, etc.) in public entertainment. Also attributive and in other combinations, as hit parade n. a programme or grouping of ‘hits’. hit song n. (or hit song) a tune that proves popular. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > [noun] > one who or that which is successful > that which is successful > a successful stroke gird1513 feat1564 grand coup1752 coup1791 tour de force1802 hit1811 ten-strike1840 bull's-eye1857 score1901 strike1901 society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > [noun] > a performance > item in > type of item hit1811 star turn1885 sister act1893 showstopper1916 patter act1941 single act1952 bomb1954 stunt- society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > [noun] > grouping of hits hit parade1937 society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > [noun] > a performance > item in > collectively > grouping of popular successes hit parade1937 society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > type of piece > [noun] > pop piece pop number1921 schlager1934 hit song1942 B-side1962 1811 C. Mathews Let. 22 June in A. Mathews Mem. C. Mathews (1838) II. 123 Maw~worm was a most unusual hit, I am told. 1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 157 (note) One of Mr. Lane's most fortunate hits. 1829 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 25 399 Mr. Peel seems to have made a hit in the chief character of Shiel's play. 1835 C. Dickens Let. 9 Dec. (1965) I. 103 The insertion of another Prison Paper would decidedly detract from the ‘hit’ of the first. 1847 A. Smith Christopher Tadpole (1848) xxiv. 217 His general effect..was pronounced to be a hit. 1908 Sears, Roebuck Catal. No. 117. 199/1 Orchestra selections..‘Broadway Hits’. 1918 Talking Machine News & Jrnl. Amusements Feb. 83 (advt.) All the song-hits of the moment. 1918 Talking Machine News & Jrnl. Amusements Feb. 89/2 (advt.) When a title makes a hit, we are bound to have another something like it before long. 1918 Talking Machine News & Jrnl. Amusements Mar. p. iv (advt.) Always a hit!! A ‘Record’ in a Record. 1927 Melody Maker Aug. 800 (advt.) The sensational hit. Sweeping the country like a cyclone. The Doll Dance. 1932 Amer. Speech Apr. 252 The motto of the song writers is..‘A hit is not an aesthetic triumph, it is something that sells.’ 1937 Cinema Arts June 22 (caption) The Hit Parade. 1937 W. S. Maugham Theatre xxviii. 270 I'm very pleased with her. I think she'll make quite a hit. I've half a mind to give her a contract. 1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §580/2 A popular song which has stood the test of time; hit song or tune. 1947 R. de Toledano Frontiers of Jazz xvi. 172 Hit tunes of his own composition. 1948 Manch. Guardian Weekly 1 Jan. 13/4 The box-office of any hit-show on Broadway. 1948 F. Brown Murder can be Fun (1951) i. 18 She had big blue eyes that would have been a hit on television. 1957 Observer 29 Sept. 13/1 It must first be said that Miss Storm has written a resounding, self-evident hit. 1957 Times Lit. Suppl. 4 Oct. 593/1 Hollywood now makes its smash hits out of American self-criticism. 1958 Times 26 May 7/6 The numbers listed in the hit parade all have a structure of professionalism. 1959 G. Freeman Jack would be Gentleman vi. 129 The first dozen of you lucky kids..will be presented with my latest hit disc. 1967 Boston Sunday Globe 23 Apr. A28/2 Lemons and peppermints have been ‘hit items’ from the very first fair, and so have rides on one of the Brookline Fire Department's engines. 1967 Melody Maker 29 July 7/3 I'm not chasing any hit records any more. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. 24 245/1 Fowler (1966), using a program in Elliot 803 Autocode, has explored the effect of combining models with varying distributions of hit numbers. 1969 Punch 29 Jan. p. v Don Partridge, who shot from the pavement into the hit parade, is putting on a Buskers Concert. b. A saying that goes to the point; a striking and effective expression; a telling phrase. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [noun] > vigorous language > a telling phrase hit1836 1836 T. Hook Gilbert Gurney (1850) I. i. 18 He suggested the introduction of two or three jokes—‘hits’, I recollect he called them—into the speeches of that personage. 1884 Nonconformist & Independent 25 Sept. 929/2 The noble speaker had made the hit of the evening. 1885 Law Times 80 10/1 One of his happiest hits is to brand wire pullers as the chiffonniers of politics. c. A successful guess. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > conjecture, guessing > [noun] > a conjecture, guess > successful hit1852 1852 W. E. Gladstone Gleanings (1877) IV. i. 139 A knack of lucky conjecture..resembling that which solves conundrums, often seems to be more successful in its hits than comprehensive mental grasp or the closest logical continuity. d. hit off, the act of hitting off (to hit off 3 at hit v. Phrasal verbs); a clever representation or imitation. ΘΚΠ society > communication > representation > [noun] > a representation > clever hit off1830 1830 J. Badcock in Foote's Wks. p. xi The plaudits which would accompany a successful hit-off of the subject under treatment. 5. Backgammon. a. A game won by a player after his opponent has thrown off one or more men from the board, as distinguished from a gammon or a backgammon: see quot. 1888. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > backgammon > [noun] > actions or positions lympoldingc1350 blot1598 after-game1601 why-nota1612 non-pass1688 hit1766 society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > backgammon > [noun] > scores gammon1735 hit1766 backgammon1883 1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. ii. 13 Backgammon, at which my old friend and I sometimes took a two-penny hit. 1856 C. J. Lever Martins of Cro' Martin ii. 18 A hardly-contested ‘hit’ of backgammon was being fought out. 1888 Cassell's Bk. Sports & Past. 385 There are three different kinds of wins, viz., the hit, the gammon, and the backgammon. The player who has played all his men round into his own inner table, and by fortunate throws of the dice has borne all his men, wins the hit. b. The act of hitting a ‘blot’: see hit v. 10. ΚΠ 1778 T. Jones Hoyle's Games Improved 171 Two of your Adversary's Men in your Tables are better, for a Hit, than any greater Number, provided your Game is forwardest. 6. An abundant crop of fruit (i.e. one that turns out a success). western dialect. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > crop or crops > [noun] > fruit crop fruitage1578 fruitery1708 setting1731 fructuation1782 hit1800 top-crop1889 1800 Trans. Soc. Arts 18 303 What in the Cider-countries is called a hitt. This..superabundance of fruit, is very destructive to the trees; for so great a crop weakens them very much. 1890 J. D. Robertson Gloss. Words County of Gloucester Hit, an abundant crop of fruit. Draft additions 1993 e. Computing. = match n.¹ 11. Also attributive, as hit rate n. occasionally, hit ratio n. the percentage of records in a file which are accessed in the course of a processing task; also used analogously in other computing contexts (esp. memory caching), and transferred. ΘΚΠ society > computing and information technology > data > database > [noun] > access or retrieval > access rate hit rate1966 hit ratio1966 society > computing and information technology > data > database > [noun] > access or retrieval > searching > results of match1962 hit1966 1966 C. J. Sippl Computer Dict. & Handbk. (1967) 142/1 Hit,..2. In file maintenance, the finding of a match between a detail record and a master record. 3. The occurrence or match of transaction items with file items in the process of file maintenance. 1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing xvi. 265 If the account numbers are equal, we have a ‘hit’, and the transaction is used for updating the master record. 1972 C. L. Meek Gloss. Computing Terminol. 104/1 Hit rate.., the percentage of records in a file which are accessed, compared to the total number in that file. 1973 IBM Techn. Disclosure Bull. Dec. 2209 A Least Recently Used..replacement algorithm..results in a better hit ratio than that obtained from other page replacement algorithms. 1986 Eng. Today Oct.–Dec. 41/3 At least one [building] society calculates the number of accounts opened per total number of transactions handled. The result it expresses as the cashier's hit rate. 1987 Electronics & Wireless World Jan. 106/2 The cache holding register..is used to hold the prefetched long word in the case of a cache miss or to hold the prefetched long word from the cache if a hit occurs. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online September 2021). hitv. Brit. /hɪt/, U.S. /hɪt/ Forms: Past tense and past participle hit. Forms: Old English hyttan, Middle English–1500s hitte, hytte, Middle English hutte, hete, Middle English hyt, Middle English–1600s hitt, Middle English (3rd singular) hit, Middle English– hit. past tense Old English hytte, Middle English hutte, Middle English hitte, (Middle English hite), Middle English– hit, (Middle English hitt, Middle English hyt(te, 1500s–1600s hot, 1500s–1800s Scottish and northern hat, 1600s hatt). past participle Middle English y-hyt, Middle English hyt, yhytte, Middle English– hit, (dialectMiddle English Scottish hittin, 1500s– hitten, hutten, 1500s hot). Origin: Apparently a borrowing from early Scandinavian. Etymology: Late Old English hyttan = Old Norse hitta to hit upon, light upon, meet with, Swedish hitta, Danish hitte to hit, find. Apparently from Norse: compare Branch II; but the senses under I seem to have been developed at an early date in English from the notion ‘get at, reach’. I. To get at or reach with a blow, to strike. 1. a. transitive. To reach or get at with a blow or a missile; to give a blow to (something aimed at); to strike with aim or intent. When the success of the actor is the prominent notion, its opposite is to miss; when the effect upon the object is prominent, the meaning tends to be ‘to strike sensibly, so as to be felt’; cf. sense 8. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impact > striking > strike [verb (transitive)] swingc725 slayc825 knockc1000 platOE swengea1225 swipa1225 kill?c1225 girdc1275 hitc1275 befta1300 anhitc1300 frapa1330 lushc1330 reddec1330 takec1330 popc1390 swapa1400 jod?14.. quella1425 suffetc1440 smith1451 nolpc1540 bedunch1567 percuss1575 noba1586 affrap1590 cuff?1611 doda1661 buffa1796 pug1802 nob1811 scud1814 bunt1825 belt1838 duntle1850 punt1886 plunk1888 potch1892 to stick one on1910 clunk1943 zonk1950 the world > movement > impact > striking > strike [verb (transitive)] > succeed in striking hentOE hitc1275 atreachc1330 reacha1400 attain1477 attaint1523 nail1785 catch1820 society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > stroke with weapon > strike with a weapon [verb (transitive)] areach1014 maulc1225 hitc1275 smitec1275 reachc1330 strike1377 to cut over1867 society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > assail with missiles [verb (transitive)] > of missile: hit hitc1275 strike1377 c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13816 He..þene admiral hitte mid smærten ane dunte. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13006 Þe eotend smat after biliue & noht hine ne hutte [c1300 Otho hitte]. 13.. K. Alis. 2155 Ac Alisaundre hutte him, certe, Thorugh livre, and longe, and heorte. a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 3621 No man þat he hit miȝth him with-stonde. 1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. vi. xxix Atte laste Harold was yhyt wyþ an arewe & loste hys on ye. 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (1483) v. x. 101 Pacyence hitte Ire in the helme that it flewe a feld. 1460 Lybeaus Disc. 273 Was he never yhytte? 1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope iv. ix Thow shalt hytte hym with thy swerd and kylle hym. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 585/2 I hytte a thyng that I throwe at. 1553 T. Wilson Arte Rhetorique (1580) 3 Phavorinus the Philosopher..did hit a yong man over the Thumbes verie handsomely, for usyng..over straunge woordes. c1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) ii. 36 Sym said he sett nocht by hiss forss, Bot hecht he sowld be hittin. 1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft xii. xv. 255 A viper smitten or hot with a reed is astonied. a1600 A. Montgomerie Misc. Poems xxxiii. 17 He shot and hat me on the breist. a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. v. 44 O for a stone-bow to hit him in the eye. View more context for this quotation 1743 Broughton's Rules Boxing in Blaine Encycl. Rur. Sports §1221 No person is to hit his adversary when he is down. 1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Hat, præt. of hit. 1879 F. T. Pollok Sport Brit. Burmah I. 193 I had hit the tigress hard as she sprang up. 1885 Law Times 9 May 29/2 The plaintiff..fired at him, but did not hit him. figurative.1611 T. Middleton & T. Dekker Roaring Girle sig. M3 Some dispraised The haire... Some hit her o're the lippes, mislik'd their colour. b. Cricket. (a) To strike (the ball) with the bat: hence with the bowler as object. (b) to hit off: to make up (a number of runs) by hitting. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > bat [verb (transitive)] > hit hit1857 society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > bat [verb (transitive)] > score runs fetch1735 run1752 to knock up1837 to knock off1851 to run out1856 to hit off1857 rattle1860 compile1884 to hit up1895 slog1897 1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. viii. 392 When you or Raggles hit a ball hard away for six. 1865 F. Lillywhite Guide to Cricketers (ed. 21) 86 Messrs. Tritton and Wright hit off 25 in 20 minutes. 1883 Daily Tel. 15 May 2/7 Dr. Grace hit Hill square for 4. 1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 14 Aug. 9/1 Mr. Hornby hit each bowler twice for 4. 1888 Daily News 15 Sept. 3/4 The Englishmen had only 33 to get to win and this was hit off in twenty-five minutes for the loss of one wicket. 1892 Daily News 1 Sept. 4/5 Yorkshire..in the time remaining..hit off 56 of these for the loss of two batsmen. 2. absol. or intransitive. To give a blow or blows; to strike with something in hand or with a missile. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impact > striking > strike or deliver blows [verb (intransitive)] slay971 smitelOE flatc1330 flap1362 acoupc1380 frapa1400 girda1400 hit?a1400 knocka1400 swap?a1400 wapa1400 castc1400 strike1509 befta1522 to throw about one1590 cuff1596 to let down1640 dunch1805 yark1818 bunt1867 the world > movement > impact > striking > strike or deliver blows [verb (intransitive)] > succeed in striking hit?a1400 to strike home1590 connect1933 society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > stroke with weapon > strike (of weapon) [verb (intransitive)] > strike with a weapon hit?a1400 society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge missile [verb (intransitive)] > strike with missile hit1581 ?a1400 Morte Arth. 1149 Arthur..hittez ever in the hulke up to þe hiltez. 1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxviii. 179 Who so shootes at the like, in hope to hit, may sooner misse. 1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. 57 Take aim to the Mark you would shoot to, and that is the way to hit. 1700 S. L. tr. C. Frick Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 25 Throw a Dart or long Stick, with which they'll hit within the compass of a farthing a mighty distance. 1850 S. G. Osborne Gleanings 112 There were..lads..hitting at stones with hammers. 1870 Blaine's Encycl. Rural Sports (rev. ed.) §4038 (Boxing) He was..an excellent ‘stopper’, hitting with his right and stopping with his left. 3. transitive. Of a missile or moving body: to come upon with forcible impact; to strike. ΚΠ c1480 (a1400) St. Christopher 581 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 356 Sowne ane erow in þe ee hyme hit. a1665 K. Digby Jrnl. Voy. to Mediterranean (1868) 77 He..shott 7 peeces att my pinnace, all which hatt her. 1694 A. de la Pryme Diary 19 May (1870) i. 40 In at the window..[it] was flung..and had like to have hitten Mr. Walker on the head. 1700 S. L. tr. C. Schweitzer Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 354 With an Elligar..that sticks in the Fish it hits. 1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth xi, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 287 My pellet..I trust, it did not hit your eye. figurative.1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid v. iii. 90 The meikle hillis Bemys agane, hit with the brute so schill is.1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess v. 96 The sun that now..hit the Northern hills. 4. absol. or intransitive. a. To come with forcible impact (against, upon, etc.). ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impact > impinge [verb (intransitive)] > forcibly or violently beatc885 pilta1200 smitec1300 dashc1305 pitchc1325 dushc1400 hitc1400 jouncec1440 hurl1470 swack1488 knock1530 jut1548 squat1587 bump1699 jowl1770 smash1835 lasha1851 ding1874 biff1904 wham1948 slam1973 c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xiii. 58 Þe whilk brand efter~wardes hitt on þe erthe and stakk still þerin. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 585/2 I went darkeling and dyd hytte agaynst a doore. 1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age i. iv. xxiii. 142 When we endeavour to shunne one kind of..Sand-banks, we hit against another. a1704 J. Locke Exam. Malebranche §45 If bodies be extension alone, how can they move and hit one against another? 1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxv. 190 The little snow granules hit spitefully against the skin. 1898 N.E.D. at Hit Mod. The shot hit in front of the head high up. b. To strike exactly or at the proper point. Usually in to hit on so many cylinders: (of an internal-combustion engine) to be running properly on so many cylinders; hence, to be hitting on all four or six (cylinders)): to be running or working perfectly; figurative to be in good trim or form. ΚΠ 1912 C. Mathewson Pitching in Pinch xii. 269 So the best infielder takes time to fit into the infield of a Big League club and have it hit on all four cylinders again. 1928 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 10 Mar. 127/1 Modern science offers you a natural means to keep you ‘hitting on all six’—every minute of the day. 5. transitive. To deliver (a blow, stroke, etc.). ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impact > striking > strike [verb (transitive)] > deal or give (a stroke or blow) setc1300 smitec1300 layc1330 drivec1380 slentc1380 hit?a1400 to lay ona1400 reacha1400 fetchc1400 depart1477 warpc1480 throw1488 lenda1500 serve1561 wherret1599 senda1627 lunge1735 to lay in1809 wreak1817 to get in1834 ?a1400 Morte Arth. 3687 Archers of Inglande..Hittis thourghe þe harde stele fulle hertly dynnttis. 1460 Lybeaus Disc. 1631 Ayder yn other scheld hytte Strokes grymly greete. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 5937 He..Hit on his hede a full hard dynt. 1879 F. T. Pollok Sport Brit. Burmah I. 122 I lifted the stick and pretended to hit at it a back-handed blow. 6. (With two objects.) to hit any one a blow: to strike him with a blow, to give him a blow. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impact > striking > strike [verb (transitive)] > specific animate object drepeOE smitec1200 buffet?c1225 strike1377 rapa1400 seta1400 frontc1400 ballc1450 throw1488 to bear (a person) a blow1530 fetch1556 douse1559 knetcha1564 slat1577 to hit any one a blow1597 wherret1599 alapate1609 shock1614 baske1642 measure1652 plump1785 jow1802 nobble1841 scuff1841 clump1864 bust1873 plonk1874 to sock it to1877 dot1881 biff1888 dong1889 slosh1890 to soak it to1892 to cop (a person) one1898 poke1906 to hang one on1908 bop1931 clonk1949 1597 T. Beard Theatre Gods Iudgements i. xxiii. 120 One of his seruants..hot him such a knock with a pistoll..that he killed him therewith. 1599 J. Minsheu Pleasant Dialogues Spanish & Eng. 18 in R. Percyvall & J. Minsheu Spanish Gram. I hit my selfe a blowe..in this shin bone. 1763 C. Johnstone Reverie (new ed.) I. 135 Hitting him a plump in the bread-basket. 1858 N. Hawthorne Fr. & Ital. Jrnls. II. 23 Hitting the poor Venus another..blow. 7. transitive. To knock (a part of the body) against (also on) something. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impact > impinge upon [verb (transitive)] > cause to impinge > forcibly or violently knocka1340 runa1425 rap1440 jowlc1470 dauda1572 sousea1593 bedash1609 bob1612 hit1639 bump1673 bebump1694 boup1715 bonk1929 prang1952 1639 T. B. tr. J.-P. Camus Certain Moral Relations in S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events 249 [He] hit his nose so hard against the ground, that he lay quite stund with the fall. 1665 R. Hooke Micrographia 178 It would swim to and fro..but would often hit itself against the rocks or stones. 1898 N.E.D. at Hit Mod. In the dark he hit his foot against the step. 8. figurative. a. To affect the conscience, feelings, comfort, prosperity, etc. of (any one) in a way analogous to physical hitting; to affect sensibly, painfully, or injuriously; to smite, wound, hurt. to hit home: cf. home adv. 4. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > be painful or distressing to a person [verb (intransitive)] > make lasting painful impression to hit homec1480 to pierce one's stomach1509 sink (deep) into one's stomach1532 the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > cause of mental anguish or torment > be in anguish [verb (intransitive)] > cause pang to hit homec1480 society > morality > virtue > righteousness or rectitude > reform, amendment, or correction > repentance or contrition > repent (sin, wrongdoing, etc.) [verb (transitive)] > affect with remorse > prick, smite, etc., with remorse prickOE smitea1382 tanga1400 grudgec1460 to hit home1627 twinge1647 c1480 (a1400) St. George 110 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 179 Sad sorow sa cane hyme hit. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid iv. xi. 22 Now art thou hit with frawart weirdis vnkynd. 1553 T. Wilson Arte Rhetorique (1580) 138 A merie man can want no matter to hitte hym home. c1565 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1728) 234 (Jam.) The chancellour..hearing the grose and ruid speach..thought he hat thame ovir near. 1627 R. Sanderson Ten Serm. 300 Christ hitteth him home, and presseth vpon his particular corruption. 1678 R. Barclay Apol. True Christian Divinity x. §17. 307 This Objection hitteth not us at all. 1733 A. Pope Impertinent 14 Chere Comtesse! you have Charms all Hearts to hit! 1861 J. Bright in Parl. Deb. 3rd Ser. 162 71 The noble Lord felt himself hit. 1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. xliii. 134 There is always a desire to hit companies, especially banks and railroads. 1938 Times 30 Apr. 11/4 Mr. Roosevelt says that the one lesson in events abroad that has ‘hit home’ is that ‘the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic State itself’. b. to be hard (sometimes heavily, badly) hit: to be severely or deeply affected by something; esp. to be seriously smitten by some adversity. (Cf. sense 1.) ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > adversity > be in adversity [verb (intransitive)] > be seriously struck by adversity to be hard (sometimes heavily, badly) hit1854 the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > suffer anguish or torment [verb (intransitive)] anguisha1400 smoke1548 wring1565 to eat one's (own) heart1590 to bleed inwardlya1616 sting1849 twinge1850 to be hard (sometimes heavily, badly) hit1854 1854 C. J. Lever Dodd Family Abroad xiv. 110 I got ‘hit hard’ at the Brussels races, lost twelve hundred at écarté. 1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. III. xc. 229 Stocks had now fallen, and everybody was hard hit. 1891 N. Gould Double Event 3 A friend of his had been hit heavily over a certain race. 1893 Liverpool Daily Post 1 Jan. Liverpool was badly hit last year by the fall in cotton. c. To criticize, make fun of or ridicule (a person or thing): sometimes const. at. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > derision, ridicule, or mockery > banter or good-humoured ridicule > banter [verb (transitive)] > make fun of to have (also i-do) (something) to gameeOE to make (a) game of (also at, on)?c1250 overmirtha1400 sporta1533 to make a sport of1535 to make (up) a lip1546 to give one a (or the) gleek1567 to make a May game of1569 to play with a person's nose1579 to make merry over (also with)1621 game1699 to make fun of1732 hit1843 the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > criticism > criticize [verb (transitive)] > sharply touch1526 quip1572 quib1580 quirk1596 hit1843 rawhide1895 1843 Punch 23 Sept. 131/2 Instead of an outburst of enthusiasm at the line ‘Confound their politics’, the waltzer is supposed to execute a pirouette, which is supposed to hit at our wavering propensities. 1936 S.P.E. Tract (Soc. for Pure Eng.) No. XLV. 190 The member of a newspaper staff who is responsible for writing the headlines prefers..hit..to criticize. 1945 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. vi. 121 A man who has acquired a strong dislike of another person..hits or..criticizes him. 1969 Pen IX. 47 He could supply her with a list of synonyms for the verb ‘savage’, i.e...hit at. d. To occur to (a person); to affect in a particular way, to appear to; to have an impact on. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > effect produced on emotions > have an effect on [verb (transitive)] gravec1374 bitec1400 rapt?1577 infecta1586 to come (also get, go) home to1625 to screw up1644 strike1672 strikea1701 impress1736 to touch up1796 to burn into1823 knock1883 hit1891 impressionize1894 the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > idea, notion, or concept > occur to [verb (transitive)] strikea1616 to come across ——1673 suggest1709 to come upon ——a1712 hit1891 1891 R. Kipling Light that Failed v. 78 Look at their faces. It hits 'em. 1914 G. Atherton Perch of Devil i. xxx. 175 Lucky it hit him to buy the house and send that last five thousand. 1916 ‘B. M. Bower’ Phantom Herd v. 68 I wanted to see how it would hit you. 1916 G. B. Shaw Doctors' Delusions (1932) 105 Their worthlessness would not hit us in the face as the worthlessness of Dr Saleeby's figures does. 1921 J. Galsworthy To Let ii. xi. 212 Their manners now really quite hit you in the eye. 1937 Evening News 28 Jan. 7/1 (headline) Finding best colours for crossing that will ‘hit the eye’. 1958 Listener 16 Oct. 600/2 This book..was published about two years ago, and it has not yet hit the architectural profession. e. not to know (or to wonder) what hit one: to be killed; to be surprised or disconcerted. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > killing > kill [verb (intransitive)] > be killed to be deadc1000 fallOE spilla1300 suffera1616 to fall (a) prey (also victim, sacrifice) toa1774 to lose the number of one's mess1807 to go up1825 to get his (also hers, theirs)1903 to cop (also stop, catch, get, etc.) a packet1916 click1917 not to know (or to wonder) what hit one1923 to get the works1928 to go for a burton1941 (to get) the chop or chopper1945 the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > happen or move unexpectedly [verb (intransitive)] > feel surprised to think wonder (also ferly)lOE to have wondera1400 admirec1429 startle1562 to think (it) strange of (or concerning)1585 to come short?1611 strange1639 to think (it) much1669 admirize1702 to go (all) hot and cold1845 to take to1862 surprise1943 not to know (or to wonder) what hit one1961 1923 J. Miner Jack Miner & Birds viii. 27 He came to examine the decoys near me and while his attention was rivetted on them I raised up and fired, and he never knew what hit him. 1961 Listener 19 Oct. 589/1 Many of our less efficient firms would be hurt so hard that they could never quite know what had hit them. 1963 Observer 10 Feb. 24/3 They must have wondered what hit them in Paris last week, for almost every female member of the British Press made a dead set for the hosiery counter at Galeries Lafayette. f. figurative. to hit for six [compare sense 1b(a)] : to demolish an argument, scheme, etc., to vanquish; to deal a severe blow to. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > bring to ruin or put an end to undoc950 shendOE forfarea1000 endc1000 to do awayOE aquenchc1175 slayc1175 slayc1175 stathea1200 tinea1300 to-spilla1300 batec1300 bleschea1325 honisha1325 leesea1325 wastec1325 stanch1338 corrumpa1340 destroy1340 to put awayc1350 dissolvec1374 supplanta1382 to-shend1382 aneantizec1384 avoidc1384 to put outa1398 beshenda1400 swelta1400 amortizec1405 distract1413 consumec1425 shelfc1425 abroge1427 downthringc1430 kill1435 poisonc1450 defeat1474 perish1509 to blow away1523 abrogatea1529 to prick (also turn, pitch) over the perka1529 dash?1529 to bring (also send) to (the) pot1531 put in the pot1531 wipea1538 extermine1539 fatec1540 peppera1550 disappoint1563 to put (also set) beside the saddle1563 to cut the throat of1565 to throw (also turn, etc.) over the perch1568 to make a hand of (also on, with)1569 demolish1570 to break the neck of1576 to make shipwreck of1577 spoil1578 to knock on (in) the head (also rarely at head)1579 cipher1589 ruinate1590 to cut off by the shins1592 shipwreck1599 exterminate1605 finish1611 damnify1612 ravel1614 braina1616 stagger1629 unrivet1630 consummate1634 pulverizea1640 baffle1649 devil1652 to blow up1660 feague1668 shatter1683 cook1708 to die away1748 to prove fatal (to)1759 to knock up1764 to knock (or kick) the hindsight out or off1834 to put the kibosh on1834 to cook (rarely do) one's goose1835 kibosh1841 to chaw up1843 cooper1851 to jack up1870 scuttle1888 to bugger up1891 jigger1895 torpedo1895 on the fritz1900 to put paid to1901 rot1908 down and out1916 scuppera1918 to put the skids under1918 stonker1919 liquidate1924 to screw up1933 cruel1934 to dig the grave of1934 pox1935 blow1936 to hit for six1937 to piss up1937 to dust off1938 zap1976 the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > have or gain mastery or superiority over [verb (transitive)] > overcome or defeat > soundly threshc1384 to knock the socks offa1529 thump1597 thrash1609 thwacka1616 capot1649 to beat to snuff1819 to knock into a cocked hat1830 to —— (the) hell out of1833 sledgehammer1834 rout1835 whop1836 skin1838 whip-saw1842 to knock (the) spots off1850 to make mincemeat of1853 to mop (up) the floor with1875 to beat pointless1877 to lick into fits1879 to take apart1880 to knock out1883 wax1884 contund1885 to give (a person) fits1885 to wipe the floor with1887 flatten1892 to knock (someone) for six1902 slaughter1903 slather1910 to hit for six1937 hammer1948 whomp1952 bulldozer1954 zilch1957 shred1966 tank1973 slam-dunk1975 beast1977 1937 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 May 343/4 Lawrence..was chiefly concerned to hit swots and cads and foreigners for six. 1957 I. Cross God Boy (1958) xiii. 109 I had really hit her for a six and made her change her tune properly. 1961 Oxf. Mag. 15 June 413/1 Mr. Sisam, the Secretary, hit most of the questioners for six. 1967 Lancet 1 July 41/1 I began to wonder if my massive and inexpert administration of chloroform had not hit his liver—perhaps not inappropriately—for six. g. To give or administer a narcotic drug to (a person). Also intransitive. slang (originally U.S.). ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > drugging a person or thing > drug [verb (intransitive)] spike1935 hit1953 the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > drugging a person or thing > drug [verb (transitive)] narcotize1526 potion1611 druga1730 hocus1831 dope1889 slug1925 snow1927 bomb1950 hit1953 to hop up1968 1949 N. Algren Man with Golden Arm 76 It [sc. a narcotic injection] hit all right. It hit the heart like a run~away locomotive, it hit like a falling wall.] 1953 W. S. Burroughs Junkie xiv. 141 ‘Hit me, will you, Ike?’ Old Ike poked a gentle finger along the vein holding the dropper poised between thumb and fingers. 1959 W. S. Burroughs Naked Lunch 67 The addict regards his body as an instrument to absorb the medium in which he lives, evaluates his tissue with the cold hands of a horse dealer. ‘No use trying to hit there.’ 1970 N.Y. Times 23 Feb. 26 How did he become an addict? ‘You mean, who hit me first? My friend, Johnny.’ h. To kill; to rob. slang (originally U.S.). ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > killing > kill [verb (transitive)] swevec725 quelmeOE slayc893 quelleOE of-falleOE ofslayeOE aquellc950 ayeteeOE spillc950 beliveOE to bring (also do) of (one's) life-dayOE fordoa1000 forfarea1000 asweveOE drepeOE forleseOE martyrOE to do (also i-do, draw) of lifeOE bringc1175 off-quellc1175 quenchc1175 forswelta1225 adeadc1225 to bring of daysc1225 to do to deathc1225 to draw (a person) to deathc1225 murder?c1225 aslayc1275 forferec1275 to lay to ground, to earth (Sc. at eird)c1275 martyrc1300 strangle1303 destroya1325 misdoa1325 killc1330 tailc1330 to take the life of (also fro)c1330 enda1340 to kill to (into, unto) death1362 brittena1375 deadc1374 to ding to deathc1380 mortifya1382 perisha1387 to dight to death1393 colea1400 fella1400 kill out (away, down, up)a1400 to slay up or downa1400 swelta1400 voida1400 deliverc1400 starvec1425 jugylc1440 morta1450 to bring to, on, or upon (one's) bierc1480 to put offc1485 to-slaya1500 to make away with1502 to put (a person or thing) to silencec1503 rida1513 to put downa1525 to hang out of the way1528 dispatch?1529 strikea1535 occidea1538 to firk to death, (out) of lifec1540 to fling to deathc1540 extinct1548 to make out of the way1551 to fet offa1556 to cut offc1565 to make away?1566 occise1575 spoil1578 senda1586 to put away1588 exanimate1593 unmortalize1593 speed1594 unlive1594 execute1597 dislive1598 extinguish1598 to lay along1599 to make hence1605 conclude1606 kill off1607 disanimate1609 feeze1609 to smite, stab in, under the fifth rib1611 to kill dead1615 transporta1616 spatch1616 to take off1619 mactate1623 to make meat of1632 to turn up1642 inanimate1647 pop1649 enecate1657 cadaverate1658 expedite1678 to make dog's meat of1679 to make mincemeat of1709 sluice1749 finisha1753 royna1770 still1778 do1780 deaden1807 deathifyc1810 to lay out1829 cool1833 to use up1833 puckeroo1840 to rub out1840 cadaverize1841 to put under the sod1847 suicide1852 outkill1860 to fix1875 to put under1879 corpse1884 stiffen1888 tip1891 to do away with1899 to take out1900 stretch1902 red-light1906 huff1919 to knock rotten1919 skittle1919 liquidate1924 clip1927 to set over1931 creasea1935 ice1941 lose1942 to put to sleep1942 zap1942 hit1955 to take down1967 wax1968 trash1973 ace1975 the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > rob [verb (transitive)] reaveeOE benima1325 berob1340 pelfa1400 distress1490 derob1546 heave1567 shrive1630 strubc1680 spung1719 to do over1785 strong-arm1896 make1926 heist1930 to take off1937 hit1955 to knock off1960 1955 People (Austral.) 19 Oct. 13/2 Dutch bellowed, ‘Dewey's gotta go. He's gotta be hit.’ 1968 N. Giovanni in A. Chapman New Black Voices (1972) 250 I have been robbed It looked like they knew That i was to be hit They took my tv My two rings. 1972 D. E. Westlake Cops & Robbers (1973) xvi. 247 If they're cops, maybe it's not such a good idea to have them hit. 1973 Publishers Weekly 29 Jan. 229/2 A professional killer who has ‘hit’ 38 victims. 9. To cast, throw. Obsolete exc. dialect. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impelling or driving > projecting through space or throwing > throw [verb (transitive)] warpc888 torvec1000 castc1230 slingc1290 forthcasta1300 throwc1300 lancec1330 hit1362 pitchc1380 slentc1380 glenta1400 launcha1400 routc1400 waltc1400 flingc1420 jeta1450 vire1487 ajet1490 hurl1563 toss1570 kest1590 picka1600 peck1611 jaculate1623 conject1625 elance1718 squail1876 tipple1887 bish1940 biff1941 slap1957 welly1986 1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. v. 172 Þenne Clement þe Cobelere caste of his cloke, And Hikke þe Ostiler hutte his hod aftur. 1862 H. Kingsley Ravenshoe xlii Everthing past use was hit, as they say in Berkshire, out into the street. 10. Backgammon. To ‘take up’ (a man). to hit a blot: to throw a number which enables the player to take up an unguarded man, that is, one left single and alone on any point in his adversary's tables. Hence figurative to discover a failing or a weak point. (See blot n.²) ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > backgammon > [verb (intransitive)] > actions to hit a blot1599 society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > backgammon > [verb (transitive)] > actions bear1550 hit1599 point1680 carry1743 1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. B3^v Mis. Gou. Looke ye Mistresse now I hit ye. Mis. Bar. Why I, you neuer vse to misse a blot, Especially when it stands so faire to hit... Mis. Gou. I hot your man. 1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions p. xxxviii And he there hits a blot in the Papal Tenets that was never hit before. 1778 T. Jones Hoyle's Games Improved 175 Suppose I leave two Blots, either of which cannot be hit but by double Dice. ?1870 F. Hardy & J. R. Ware Mod. Hoyle 144 If you are obliged to leave a blot, by having recourse to the Calculations for hitting it, you will find the chances for and against you..Never fail spreading your men, either to take a new point in your table, or to hit a man your adversary may happen to enter. 1889 Spectator 14 Dec. 832 Mr. Morley has hit a blot in our policy. II. To come upon, light upon, meet with, get at, attain to, reach one's aim, succeed, and the like.This is the Old Norse sense; but with the exception of the single late Old English instance in sense 11, its exemplification in English as a whole is later. 11. transitive. To come upon, light upon, meet with, get at, reach, find, esp. something aimed at. a. with material object. Frequently in modern (esp. U.S.) colloquial use, to arrive at; also, to go to (a place), go upon (a course). to hit the trail (less commonly the grit, pike, road, etc.): to take the road, to get on the way, to go away. ΘΚΠ society > travel > aspects of travel > arrival > arrive at or reach [verb (transitive)] to come toOE reachOE hita1075 ofreachlOE catchc1330 latchc1330 recovera1375 getc1390 henta1393 win?1473 fetch1589 to fetch up1589 obtain1589 attainc1592 make1610 gaina1616 arrive1647 advene1684 strike1798 the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)] findOE yfindOE hita1075 befindc1200 out-findc1300 to try outc1325 to find outa1375 to find upc1390 ascryc1400 outwryc1400 inventc1475 vent1611 to hit off1680 discover1762 to scare up1846 to pick up1869 rumble1897 society > travel > aspects of travel > departure, leaving, or going away > depart, leave, or go away [verb (intransitive)] > set out forthfarec888 foundOE seta1000 to go forthOE to fare forthc1200 partc1230 to pass forthc1325 to take (the) gatec1330 to take the wayc1330 to take one's waya1375 puta1382 treunt?a1400 movec1400 depart1490 prepare?1518 to set forth1530 to set forward(s)1530 busklea1535 to make out1558 to take forth1568 to set out1583 sally1590 start1591 to go off1600 to put forth1604 to start outa1626 intend1646 to take the road1720 to take one's foot in one's hand1755 to set off1774 to get off1778 to set away1817 to take out1855 to haul out1866 to hit the trail (less commonly the grit, pike, road, etc.)1873 to hit, split or take the breeze1910 hop1922 society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct (one's course, steps, etc.) [verb (transitive)] > be bound for or head for drawc1275 to-hieldc1275 roama1375 pretend1481 pursue1488 to make forth1508 to be in gate to1548 to make to ——a1568 to make unto ——1593 to be for1606 to set one's face for (from, to, towards)1611 steer1667 head1880 hit1889 a1075 OE. Chron. (MS. D.) anno 1066 Ða com Harold..on unwær on þa Normenn, and hytte hi begeondan Eoforwic, æt Steinford-brygge. a1527 R. Thorne in R. Hakluyt Divers Voy. (1582) sig. D^v Sayling Northwarde..wee shall hitte these Ilandes. ?1533 G. Du Wes Introductorie for to lerne Frenche sig. Giii ^v To hitte or ouertake, attaindre. 1621 T. W. tr. S. Goulart Wise Vieillard 25 So farre out of the way..that they can hardly hit the right way againe to the..citie of God. 1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 81 The Entrance is so difficult to hit. 1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 138 Egad, I can't hit the Joint. 1797 Capt. Troubridge 25 July in Ld. Nelson Disp. & Lett. (1845) II. 426 (note) From the darkness of the night I did not immediately hit the Mole, the spot appointed to land at. 1852 J. W. Carlyle Lett. II. 195 As soon as I knew where to hit you with a letter. 1873 W. F. Butler Wild North Land xviii. 208 In the morning ‘Twa-poos’, or the Three Thumbs, sets forth to look for a moose; he hits the trail and follows it. 1888 in Amer. Speech (1962) 37 76 Hit the grit, get going; get out of here. 1888 Detroit Free Press Oct. (Farmer) Professor Rose, who hit this town last spring, is around calling us a fugitive from justice. 1889 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang Hit the flat, to (cowboys), to go out on the prairies. 1893 P. H. Emerson On Eng. Lagoons xii. 40 I have been hitting the road something to get here quick. 1896 G. Ade Artie xiv. 127 ‘A little more weather like this and we'll be hittin' the park,’ he observed. 1897 Outing 30 374/1 Men can pass out the church door, shoulder their packs of general cussedness, and unconcernedly hit the trail to the lower [regions]. 1901 S. E. White Westerners i. 7 Thought you wasn't no tenderfoot. Ever hit the trail? 1904 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 25 June 6 The..convention, whose delegates were so summarily ordered to hit the pike by the national committee-men. 1907 R. W. Service Songs of Sourdough (1908) 65 It lies with thee—the choice is thine, is thine, To hit the ties or drive thy auto-car. 1910 W. M. Raine Bucky O'Connor 73 Cut loose and hit the pike for yourself. 1918 C. E. Mulford Man from Bar-20 xiii. 131 I was a rich man until I hit town. 1925 P. G. Wodehouse Carry on, Jeeves v. 126 Jimmy Mundy..has come to save New York from itself; to force it—in his picturesque phrase—to hit the trail. 1925 Z. A. Tilghman Dugout 70 I must hit the road. 1931 ‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route 207 Hitting the grit, to be forced off a fast moving train. 1932 T. S. Eliot Sweeney Agonistes 18 We hit this town last night for the first time. 1934 E. Linklater Magnus Merriman 82 Then I hit the pike for home. 1948 G. H. Johnston Death takes Small Bites ii. 54 Go down this corridor, up the stairway at the end, straight on until you hit the second court. 1950 T. Longstaff This my Voy. v. 97 So on May 31st Mumm and I hit the trail once more. 1973 Christian Sci. Monitor 14 Apr. B16/2 These two hit the road together, modern pilgrims making very little progress. b. with immaterial object. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > find out, discover [verb (transitive)] > quickly, casually to fall on ——1533 hit1555 strikea1610 to drop (down) to or on (to)1819 1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 309^v To consyder howe they hytte the truthe sumtyme. 1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) ii. 68 You have hit my meaning right. 1685 Lady Russell Lett. I. xxi. 57 I cannot hit the names of the rest. 1782 J. Priestley Hist. Corruptions Christianity I. ii. 272 Other persons..were able..to hit the happy medium. 1867 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighbourhood I. iii. 60 I never could hit his way of talking to his parishioners. c. to hit the hay, to go to bed. Also to hit the sack. slang (originally U.S.). ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > bed related to sleep or rest > go to bed or retire to rest [verb (intransitive)] to go to (one's) resteOE to take (one's) restc1175 to go to bedc1275 to lie downc1275 reposec1485 down-lie1505 bed1635 to turn in1695 retire1696 lay1768 to go to roost1829 to turn or peak the flukes1851 kip1889 doss1896 to hit the hay1912 to hit the deck1918 to go down1922 to bunk down1940 to hit the sack1943 to sack out1946 to sack down1956 1912 Dial. Notes 3 578 Hit the hay, to go to bed. 1922 S. Lewis Babbitt xix. 245 You probably want to hit the hay. 1930 ‘Sapper’ Finger of Fate 184 On those two nights we all hit the hay before midnight. 1943 in J. J. Fahey Pacific War Diary (1963) i. 74 I hit the sack at 8 P.M. I slept under the stars on a steel ammunition box two feet wide. 1957 J. Kerouac On the Road i. xiii. 93 Terry and I..got ready to hit the sack. 1961 A. Miller Misfits x. 98 Well, I don't know about you educated people, but us ignorant folks got to hit the sack. d. to hit the bricks: (a) (see quot. 1950); (b) to go on strike. U.S. slang. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > participate in labour relations [verb (intransitive)] > strike strike1769 to turn out1795 to strike work, tools1803 stick1823 to come out1841 to go out1850 to down tools1855 to hit the bricks1931 society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > imprison [verb (transitive)] > release from prison > on parole parole1652 to hit the bricks1931 1931 Amer. Speech 6 439 Hit the bricks, to, to be released from prison. 1946 Seafarers' Log 1 Feb. 4/3 When you hit the bricks in those days you didn't expect to come back aboard real soon. 1946 Seafarers' Log 17 May 6/4 The seamen responded almost unanimously to the strike call with organized and unorganized seamen alike tying up the ships and hitting the bricks. 1950 H. E. Goldin Dict. Amer. Underworld Lingo 97/2 Hit the bricks,..to be paroled, discharged, acquitted, or otherwise set free. ‘Hawk's got a flat bit..so he's gotta hit the bricks.’ 1964 Time 2 Oct. 111 The United Auto Workers hit the bricks against giant General Motors. 12. intransitive. With upon, on (†of), in same sense as sense 11a. (With indirect passive.) ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impact > impinge upon [verb (transitive)] hita1400 strike1530 check1576 impinge1605 impinge1777 the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > cause mental pain or suffering to [verb (transitive)] heavyc897 pineeOE aileOE sorryeOE traya1000 sorrowOE to work (also do) (a person) woeOE angerc1175 smarta1200 to work, bake, brew balec1200 derve?c1225 grieve?c1225 sitc1225 sweam?c1225 gnawc1230 sughc1230 troublec1230 aggrievea1325 to think sweama1325 unframea1325 anguish1340 teen1340 sowa1352 distrainc1374 to-troublea1382 strain1382 unglad1390 afflicta1393 paina1393 distressa1400 hita1400 sorea1400 assayc1400 remordc1400 temptc1400 to sit (or set) one sorec1420 overthrow?a1425 visit1424 labour1437 passionc1470 arraya1500 constraina1500 misgrievea1500 attempt1525 exagitate1532 to wring to the worse1542 toil1549 lament1580 adolorate1598 rankle1659 try1702 to pass over ——1790 upset1805 to touch (also get, catch, etc.) (a person) on the raw1823 to put (a person) through it1855 bludgeon1888 to get to ——1904 to put through the hoop(s)1919 the world > action or operation > adversity > suffer (adversity or affliction) [verb (transitive)] > afflict > affect or visit with adversity followOE waryc1200 hita1400 remord?c1400 visit1424 to lead (a person) the measures1594 conflict1609 to lead a person a life1715 overhit1816 put1841 to put (a person) through it1855 the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > cause of mental anguish or torment > cause anguish to or torment [verb (transitive)] > afflict with pangs pingeOE prickOE bite?c1200 to smite to a person's hearta1225 stingc1386 hita1400 tanga1400 prickle?a1513 pang1520 punch1548 stimulate1548 twinge1647 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > truthfulness, veracity > speak truly [verb (intransitive)] > be right to have reasonc1475 to get (also have) the right end of the stick1817 hit1874 to be on the beam1941 a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 7152 I wat noght hu he on þam hitte. c1480 (a1400) St. Clement 836 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 397 Bot one þat place mycht nane of þame hyt. 1553 T. Wilson Arte Rhetorique (1580) 146 In readyng..he hit at length upon himself and the More. 1568 V. Skinner tr. R. González de Montes Discouery Inquisition of Spayne f. 17 So he can hit of the matter. 1616 B. Jonson Epicœne iv. v, in Wks. I. 579 No, but I could hit of some things that thou wilt misse. View more context for this quotation 1705 tr. W. Bosman New Descr. Coast of Guinea iii. 34 The Means which they chiefly hit upon, and practised. 1715 J. Vanbrugh Country House ii, in Wks. (1840) 464/1 Sure I shall hit of some way to get rid of this crew. 1764 T. Reid Inq. Human Mind vi. §12 Like other facts, they are not to be hit upon by a happy conjecture. 1807 P. Gass Jrnls. 132 We..crossed a large mountain and hit on the creek and small valley, which were wished for by our guide. 1874 A. H. Sayce Princ. Compar. Philol. ii. 69 Hypothesis after hypothesis, until the right one is at length hit upon. †13. intransitive. To attain the object aimed at or end intended; to ‘hit the mark’. Of events, etc.: to come to the desired end; to succeed; to come off as intended. Obsolete or dialect. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > succeed or be a success [verb (intransitive)] speedc1175 fayc1300 provec1300 flourishc1400 passc1425 prosper1434 succeedc1450 to take placea1464 to come well to (our) pass1481 shift?1533 hitc1540 walka1556 fadge1573 thrive1587 work1599 to come (good) speedc1600 to go off1608 sort1613 go1699 answer1721 to get along1768 to turn up trumps1785 to come off1854 pan1865 scour1871 arrive1889 to work out1899 to ring the bell1900 to go over1907 click1916 happen1949 c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 2071 Thow se not þat sothely said ys of olde, And ofte happes to hit, qwo so hede tas. 1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iii. ii. 265 Hath all his ventures faild, what not one hit . View more context for this quotation 1668 C. Sedley Mulberry-garden Prol. The cruel critic and malicious wit, Who think themselves undone if a play hit. 1744 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Apr. xii. 127 This pirky Wheat is often sown after Turneps..and generally hits well. 1842 J. Y. Akerman Gloss. Wiltshire (E.D.S.) (at cited word) The apples hit well t'year. 14. transitive. To attain to an exact imitation or representation of; to imitate exactly or to a nicety. Cf. to hit off 3 at Phrasal verbs. ΘΚΠ society > communication > representation > [verb (transitive)] > successfully hit?1602 to touch off1694 to hit off1737 ?1602 Narcissus (MS Bodl. Rawl. poet. 212) (1893) 484 Harke how Jumball hitts it [a cry] right. a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) v. i. 126 Your Fathers Image is so hit in you. View more context for this quotation 1623 B. Jonson in W. Shakespeare Comedies, Hist. & Trag. sig. A1^v O, could he but haue drawne his wit As well in brasse, as he hath hit His face. 1645 J. Milton Arcades in Poems 55 If my inferior hand or voice could hit Inimitable sounds. 1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 418. ¶3 It is pleasant to look on the Picture of any Face, where the Resemblance is hit. 1808 J. Wolcot One more Peep at Royal Acad. in Wks. (1812) V. 356 How dares thy hand, that cannot hit The features of a poor Tom tit, Attempt the Eagle's fury in its flight? 1842 J. L. Motley Diary 27 Jan. in Corr. (1889) I. iv. 119 One of the most difficult things in painting is to hit the exact colour of the human face. 15. To fall in with exactly; to suit, fit, be agreeable to. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > suit or be suitable for [verb (transitive)] > exactly hitc1580 nick1589 c1580 Sir P. Sidney tr. Psalmes David xl. iv [I] sought with deedes thy will to hitt. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 506 The dry marle, sorteth well with a moist soile; and the fatty, hitteth that which is dry and lean. 1645 J. Milton Il Penseroso in Poems 37 Hail divinest Melancholy, Whose Saintly visage is too bright To hit the Sense of human sight. 1696 R. Bentley Of Revel. & Messias 25 All the characters must hit and correspond one to another. 1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xvi. 160 We did not immediately recollect an historical subject to hit us. 1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xlvi. 69 What vaster dream can hit the mood Of Love on earth? View more context for this quotation 1884 R. W. Church Bacon i. 20 In the hope..of hitting her taste on some lucky occasion. †16. intransitive. To fall in suitably or exactly; to coincide; to square with, agree with. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > agree/be in harmony/be congruous [verb (intransitive)] accord1340 cord1340 concordc1374 agree1447 to stand togetherc1449 rhyme?a1475 commonc1475 gree?a1513 correspond1529 consent1540 cotton1567 pan1572 reciprocate1574 concur1576 meet1579 suit1589 sorta1592 condog1592 square1592 fit1594 congrue1600 sympathize1601 symbolize1605 to go even1607 coherea1616 congreea1616 hita1616 piece1622 to fall in1626 harmonize1629 consist1638 comply1645 shadow1648 quare1651 atonea1657 symphonize1661 syncretize1675 chime1690 jibe1813 consone1873 the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > agree, harmonize, or be congruous with [verb (transitive)] conspirec1384 accorda1393 to stand with ——c1449 to sit with ——a1500 correspond1545 resound1575 square1583 quader1588 to comport with1591 sympathize1594 beset1597 range1600 even1602 consort1607 to run with ——1614 countenancea1616 hita1616 sympathy1615 filea1625 quadrate?1630 consist1638 commensurate1643 commensure1654 to strike in1704 jig1838 harmonize1852 chime in with1861 equate1934 to tie in1938 to tune in1938 to tie up1958 a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iii. i. 6 A Guift I warrant. Why this hits right: I dreampt of a Siluer Bason & Ewre to night. 1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 274 Plutarch..would never balk a good story, though it did not exactly hit with Chronology. 1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 11 The Scheme hit so exactly with my Temper. 1723 D. Defoe Hist. Col. Jack (ed. 2) 157 Was there nothing in his Case that hit with your own? 17. intransitive. To agree together. Obsolete or dialect. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > statement > agreement, concurrence, or unanimity > be in agreement [verb (intransitive)] accord1340 cordc1380 to be condescendedc1386 to be consentedc1386 consenta1400 intend1421 onec1450 drawc1480 to be of (also in) one (or a) mind?1496 agreea1513 gree?a1513 to draw by one string1558 conspire1579 to meet witha1586 conclude1586 condog1592 consign1600 hit1608 centre1652 to be of (another's) mind1717 to go all the way (also the whole way) with1829 to sing the same song1846 the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > agree/be in harmony/be congruous [verb (intransitive)] > come into agreement to come togetherOE atonea1616 concentre1615 hit1758 mesh1944 1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear i. 292 Pray lets hit together. View more context for this quotation 1758 T. Nevile Imit. Horace i. xviii. 131 Believe me, contraries will never hit; The fop avoid the clown, the dunce the wit. 1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Hit, to agree. 1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby ‘We hit about it’, agreed... ‘Hae ye hitten on yet?’, come to an agreement. III. To aim, direct one's aim or course. †18. intransitive. To aim, seek, strive. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > endeavour > make an attempt or endeavour [verb (intransitive)] > strive or struggle hiec888 to stand inc1175 wrag?c1225 wrestle?c1225 stretcha1375 strivec1384 pressc1390 hitc1400 wring1470 fend15.. battle1502 contend?1518 reluct1526 flichter1528 touse1542 struggle1597 to lay in1599 strain?1606 stickle1613 fork1681 sprattle1786 buffet1824 fight1859 c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 132 Þe wyȝ..Hittez to haue ay more & more. 19. a. intransitive. To direct one's course, be directed; to pass, turn; to ‘strike’ out, in, in a particular direction. Perhaps now dialect and U.S. ΘΚΠ society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct one's course [verb (intransitive)] thinkeOE bowa1000 seta1000 scritheOE minlOE turnc1175 to wend one's wayc1225 ettlec1275 hieldc1275 standc1300 to take (the) gatec1330 bear?c1335 applyc1384 aim?a1400 bend1399 hita1400 straighta1400 bounc1400 intendc1425 purposec1425 appliquec1440 stevenc1440 shape1480 make1488 steera1500 course1555 to make out1558 to make in1575 to make for ——a1593 to make forth1594 plyc1595 trend1618 tour1768 to lie up1779 head1817 loop1898 a1400–50 Alexander 445 He sall hit with his hede in-to þe heghe est. c1400 (?c1380) Patience l. 380 Of a hepe of askes he hitte in þe myddez. ?a1500 Chester Pl. x. 275 Into Egypte till we hitte [E.E.T.S. hytt] The Angel will us leade. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 4671 Þai comyn to the cost..and þere hyt into hauyn. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 7242 Achilles also afterward rose, Hit on his horse, hurlit into fight. 1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. ii. 119 The Atoms of Fire, or Heat, which penetrate into the Bladder..Why could they not hit out, as well as in, through the same pores? 1713 A. Pope in Guardian 27 Apr. 2/2 Both Spencer and Philips have hit into the same Road with this old West Country Bard of ours. 1895 T. Hardy Jude ii. vi. 136 I've seen her hit in and steer down the long slide on yonder pond. 1905 R. E. Beach Pardners 20 We hit for camp on the run. 1905 R. E. Beach Pardners 48 So me and ‘Kink’ Martin..hit west. 1916 ‘B. M. Bower’ Phantom Herd xiii. 218 When I hit for the land of orange blossoms and singing birds and sunshine. b. rare. To go, pass. U.S. ΘΚΠ society > travel > [verb (intransitive)] > pass by passc1330 to go byc1449 hove1535 forpass1590 hit1911 1911 H. S. Harrison Queed vii. 86 I've seen you hit by the window many's the time. IV. Phrases. 20. to hit it. a. To hit the mark; to guess the right thing; to make a correct conjecture. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > conjecture, guessing > form conjectures, guess [verb (intransitive)] > rightly to hit it1591 to nick ita1637 1591 J. Florio Second Frutes 25 G. That is stake~money under the line, is it not so? T. Yea sir, you hitt it right. 1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. i. 125 Thou canst not hit it my good man. View more context for this quotation 1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 199 Guess again... A Girl then... You have hit it. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 134 You've just hit it there. b. (Now usually to hit it off.) To agree. Also more widely, to become friendly, to be on good terms. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > statement > agreement, concurrence, or unanimity > agree with [verb (transitive)] to go ineOE cordc1380 consentc1386 covin1393 condescend1477 agree1481 correspond1545 concur1590 to fall in1602 suffrage1614 to hit it1634 colour1639 to take with ——1646 to be with1648 to fall into ——1668 to run in1688 to think with1688 meet1694 coincide1705 to go in1713 to say ditto to1775 to see with ——1802 sympathize1828 the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > be friendly [verb (intransitive)] > become friendly agree1447 fadge1592 to hit it1634 cotton1648 to draw up1723 to hit it off1780 the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > be friendly [verb (intransitive)] > get on (well) gree?a1513 to get in with1602 cotton1605 to hitch (also set, or stable) horses together1617 to hit it1634 gee1685 to set horses together1685 to be made for each other (also one another)1751 to hit it off1780 to get ona1805 to hitch horses together1835 niggle1837 to step together1866 to speak (also talk) someone's (also the same) language1893 to stall with1897 cog1926 groove1935 click1954 vibe1986 1634 Earl of Strafford Let. 23 Aug. (1739) I. 299 Would to God our Master could hit it with that Crown. 1668 C. Sedley Mulberry-garden i. i, in Wks. (1722) II. 9 You and I shall never hit it. 1780 C. A. Burney Let. 10 Apr. in F. Burney Early Diary (1889) II. 291 How do you and the great Mrs. Montague hit it off? 1844 A. R. Smith Adventures Mr. Ledbury II. i. 2 The respective wives of these gentlemen never hit it exactly. 1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. I. xi. 188 Tom did not venture to inquire for a day or two how the two hit it off together. 1863 A. Trollope Rachel Ray II. xiv. 297 I am so happy..that you and he have hit it off. 1954 T. S. Eliot Confidential Clerk i. 16 Mr. Kaghan is prejudiced. He's never hit it off with Lady Elizabeth. c. To attain exactly to the point wanted; to strike the scent in hunting (also hit it off). ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (intransitive)] > attain exactly to the point wanted to hit it1704 the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting with hounds > work done by hounds > action of hounds [verb (intransitive)] > strike scent scenta1398 find1565 hit it off1704 to hit off a fault1749 to hit off the line1977 the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > smallness > [verb (intransitive)] > attain exactly to the point wanted to hit it1704 1704 R. Steele Lying Lover i. 5 Not ev'ry open handed Fellow hits it neither. 1710 H. Prideaux Orig. & Right Tithes ii. 52 To look through every circumstance necessary to be considered in the adjusting of this point so as exactly to hit it. 18.. Rec. N. Devon Staghounds 65 (W. Som. Word-bk.) The hounds then hit it up the river. 18.. Rec. N. Devon Staghounds 68 (W. Som. Word-bk.) The hounds came to a check, and could never hit it off again. d. To travel at speed. U.S. ΘΚΠ society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > riding in a vehicle > ride in a vehicle [verb (intransitive)] > at speed smoke1697 highball1911 to hit it1911 barrel1930 1911 J. C. Lincoln Cap'n Warren's Wards iii. 39 They nabbed us for speeding... Said we were hitting it at fifty an hour. 21. a. to hit the mark (also nail, needle, pin); to hit the nail upon (or on) the head, usually figurative. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > advantage > efficacy > be efficacious [verb (intransitive)] workOE availa1400 makea1400 prevaila1400 to hit the nail upon (or on) the headc1450 effect1592 serve1593 to tickle it1601 take1611 executea1627 to have force (to do)1713 answer1721 to take place1789 to do the trick1819 to hit (also go to, touch, etc.) the spot1836 produce1881 to press (also push) the button1890 to come through1906 to turn the trick1933 to make a (also the) point1991 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > exactness, accuracy, precision > be exact [phrase] to hit the nail upon (or on) the headc1450 to the notch1790 the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > succeed or be a success [verb (intransitive)] > achieve success (of persons) speed993 achievec1300 escheve?a1400 succeed1509 to turn up trumps1595 fadge1611 to nick ita1637 to hit the mark (also nail, needle, pin)1655 to get on1768 to reap, win one's laurels1819 to go a long way1859 win out1861 score1882 to make it1885 to make a ten-strike1887 to make the grade1912 to make good1914 to bring home the bacon1924 to go places1931 c1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 138 Now be myn trowthe ȝe hytte the pynne. ?1529 Proper Dyaloge Gentillman & Husbandman sig. A viij Thou hyttest the nayle vpon the heed For that is the thinge that they dreed. a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xxii. sig. Vu4^v Indeed she had hit the needle in that deuise. 1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 75 That we commonly call hitting the eight on the face, when we come to an eight, and skip vp from it agayne to another perfect concord. 1614 T. Overbury et al. Characters in Wife now Widdow sig. E His eyes are all white,..to keep Cupid from hitting the blacke. 1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. ii. 99 Venerable was found out as an Expedient to accommodate the Difference, luckily hitting the Mark, as a Title neither too high, nor too low. 1680 H. More Apocalypsis Apocalypseos 54 This Bow-man hat the mark, when the Emperour Constantine turned Christian. a1865 E. C. Gaskell Wives & Daughters (1866) I. iv. 43 He was rash..hitting the nail on the head sometimes. b. to hit one in the teeth: to reproach one (with a thing), throw it in one's teeth (see tooth n.). 22. a. hit or miss: Whether one hits or misses; at random, at haphazard, happy-go-lucky. (Cf. hitty-missy adv. and adj.) Also attributive and substantive. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > chance [phrase] > by chance by perchance1495 at a venture1517 per accidens1528 at hazard (also hazards)a1533 at random1543 by occasion1562 at range1568 by the way1572 by (also at) (a) peradventurea1586 hit or miss1609 at the by1611 hob-nob1660 hit and miss1897 1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. iii. 377 But hit or misse, Our proiects life this shape of sence assumes. View more context for this quotation 1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 115 Whose practise in Physick is nothing but the Countrey dance, call'd Hit or Misse. 1705 E. Hickeringill Priest-craft (1721) i. 14 Do we all march towards Heaven hit or miss, and by guess? 1848 in Amer. Speech (1935) 10 40/2 Hit-or-miss-carpet, a carpet woven from strips of old cloth sewed together. 1864 Harper's Mag. June 60/1 My husband is Colonel of the Third Regiment in the Hit-or-Miss Brigade, United States Cavalry. 1873 ‘Ouida’ Pascarèl II. 42 It is not the happy-go-lucky hit-or-miss sort of thing that you may fancy. 1927 J. Adams Errors in School 211 Hit-or-miss method. 1955 A. L. Rowse Expansion of Elizabethan Eng. 399 They were impulsive, chancy, amateurish, very much hit-or-miss. 1959 P. Bull I know Face vii. 114 It was much a hit-or-miss part. 1967 R. R. Karch & E. J. Buber Graphic Arts Procedures: Offset Processes v. 168 Motor-driven lenses, or hit-or-miss methods involving tricky out-of-focus photographic and lighting techniques are used. b. hit and miss = hit or miss at sense 22a. Also (with hyphens) attributive and spec., as hit-and-miss governor n. a type of governor used in internal-combustion engines which causes the engine to miss one or more explosions when the speed is too great. hit-and-miss ventilator n. (see quots.). ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > chance [phrase] > by chance by perchance1495 at a venture1517 per accidens1528 at hazard (also hazards)a1533 at random1543 by occasion1562 at range1568 by the way1572 by (also at) (a) peradventurea1586 hit or miss1609 at the by1611 hob-nob1660 hit and miss1897 society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > [noun] > parts of > other parts thermo-siphon1834 crank-case1878 manifolda1884 hot tube1889 sump1894 hit-and-miss governor1897 engine pit1903 retard1903 head1904 gasket1915 gravity tank1917 cylinder block1923 transfer case1923 swirl chamber1934 manifolding1938 ignition switch1952 catalytic converter1955 small block1963 cat1988 the world > matter > gas > air > fresh air > [noun] > supplying fresh air or ventilation > ventilator > slotted disc hit-and-miss ventilator1909 1897 W. E. Barton Hero in Homespun 377 They ripped up the new hit-an'-miss carpet for horse blankets. 1897 R. M. Stuart In Simpkinsville 156 Takin' 'em hit and miss, we wouldn't know the diff'rence hardly. 1902 J. E. Hutton in A. C. Harmsworth et al. Motors & Motor-driving (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) viii. 162 Many of these engines have now the ordinary hit and miss exhaust governor as well. 1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Hit-and-miss ventilator, a window ventilator consisting of a perforated glass disk, lying flat against, and pivoted through its center to, a correspondingly perforated window. 1931 Discovery Sept. 298/1 [Without these criteria] the procedure would be unnecessarily hit-and-miss. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 417/2 Hit-and-miss ventilator, a ventilating device consisting of a slotted plate over which may be moved another slotted plate, so that the openings for access of air may be more or less restricted as required. 1955 W. W. Denlinger Compl. Boston 156 Hit-and-miss, take-a-chance breedings are fewer. 1956 G. Taylor Silver iii. 53 A simple pattern, often seen on Communion Cups, consists of rows of ‘hit and miss’ ornament. 1970 Morning Star 11 July 2 The pedlars of such gifts are only worried about the wastage involved..and the general hit-and-miss aspect of the whole business. 23. Various phrases. a. to hit the pipe: to smoke opium. Also to hit the gong, gow, stuff: to take drugs. So to hit cigarettes: to smoke heavily. U.S. slang. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > take drugs [verb (intransitive)] > take opium to hit the pipe1886 the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > take drugs [verb (intransitive)] sleigh-ride1845 drug1893 dope1909 to hit the gong, gow, stuff1933 use1951 to get down1952 to turn on1954 goof1962 joy-pop1962 to drop acid1966 the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > smoke [verb (intransitive)] > heavily or too much to smoke like a chimney1840 oversmoke1895 to hit cigarettes1939 1886 T. F. Byrnes Professional Crim. of Amer. 385 Joe did not ‘hit the pipe’. 1902 Chicago Record Herald 7 Sept. vi. 5/2 On each bunk two almond-eyed devotees of the drug may be seen ‘hitting the pipe’, as opium smoking is termed. 1926 N. Lucas London & its Criminals x. 134 So ‘Izzy’ had come to ‘hitting the pipe’. I knew he had many vices, but I did not know that opium was one of them. 1933 Amer. Speech 8 ii. 27/1 When one has contracted the [drug] habit..he is..hitting the gow. 1933 Amer. Speech 8 ii. 27/2 When the opium addict is smoking he is said to be hitting the gong. 1936 Amer. Speech 11 122/2 To hit the stuff, to be addicted to narcotics... The act of taking dope. 1939 Amer. Speech (1942) 17 206/1 Bill is hitting cigarets some. 1949 Sunday World-Herald Mag. (Omaha, Nebraska) 3 Apr. 2/1 Opium smokers are considered at a low level..but a guy who profits when he hits the pipe is the plumber. b. to hit the booze, bottle, jug, pot: to drink excessively. slang (originally and chiefly U.S.). ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [verb (intransitive)] to drink deepa1300 bousec1300 bibc1400 to drink drunk1474 quaff1520 to set cock on the hoopa1535 boll1535 quass1549 tipple1560 swillc1563 carouse1567 guzzle1579 fuddle1588 overdrink1603 to drink the three outs1622 to bouse it1623 sota1639 drifflec1645 to drink like a fisha1653 tope1668 soak1687 to play at swig1688 to soak one's clay (or face)1704 impote1721 rosin1730 dram1740 booze1768 to suck (also sup) the monkey1785 swattle1785 lush1811 to lift up the little finger1812 to lift one's (or the) elbow1823 to crook one's elbow or little finger1825 jollify1830 to bowse up the jib1836 swizzle1847 peg1874 to hit the booze, bottle, jug, pot1889 to tank up1902 sozzle1937 to belt the bottle1941 indulge1953 1889 Morning Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 14 Oct. 3/1 If Dasher gets a dozen or more customers with his own appetite for hitting the booze he will have no trouble making it go. 1908 J. M. Sullivan Criminal Slang 13 Hitting the pots, excessive drinking. 1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §102.22 Drink liquor, esp. intemperately,..hit the booze,..bottle. 1942 R. Chandler High Window (1943) x. 78 We were kind of hitting the bottle a little. 1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues 374 Hit the jug, drink heavily, often from the bottle; have a drink. 1956 A. Christie Dead Man's Folly iii. 40 The most incredible shirts..covered with crawling turtles and things—made me think I'd been hitting the bottle. 1957 Landfall XI. 38 Everyone knew he'd turn out a flop... Hit the booze and got T.B. 1965 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Nov. 1068/2 We are ‘wild spiders crying together’..who must crack or hit the bottle. c. to hit the ceiling: see ceiling n. 5b. d. to hit the headlines: see headline n.² 6a. e. to hit the deck: (a) to go to bed; (b) to land an aircraft; (c) to fall to the ground; (d) to get up (from bed). colloquial. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > bed related to sleep or rest > go to bed or retire to rest [verb (intransitive)] to go to (one's) resteOE to take (one's) restc1175 to go to bedc1275 to lie downc1275 reposec1485 down-lie1505 bed1635 to turn in1695 retire1696 lay1768 to go to roost1829 to turn or peak the flukes1851 kip1889 doss1896 to hit the hay1912 to hit the deck1918 to go down1922 to bunk down1940 to hit the sack1943 to sack out1946 to sack down1956 the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > bed related to sleep or rest > go to bed or retire to rest [verb (intransitive)] > get up or rise arisec950 riseOE risec1175 uprisea1400 to dress upc1400 rouse1577 to get up1583 up1635 unroost1751 to turn out1801 to show a leg1818 to roll out1884 to hit the deck1918 society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > specific flying operations or procedures > [verb (intransitive)] > land land1784 alight1786 to sit down1926 to put down1933 to touch down1933 to hit the deck1943 the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > fall [verb (intransitive)] > fall down or from erect position > specifically of person or animal to light lowc1225 wendc1300 to seek to the earth or groundc1330 tumblea1375 stretchc1400 to take a fall1413 to blush to the eartha1500 to come down1603 to go to grassa1640 to be floored1826 to take a spilla1845 to come (fall, get) a cropper1858 to hunt grass1872 to come (also have) a buster1874 to hit the deck1954 1918 Sat. Evening Post 21 Dec. 29 The sergeants and corporals emphasized the command to rise with sharp injunctions to ‘Snap out of it!’, ‘Hit the deck!’ 1935 W. de la Mare in Proc. Brit. Acad. 247 He hit the deck; he slung his hammock; he went to bed;..they all signify much the same thing. 1943 C. H. Ward-Jackson It's a Piece of Cake 36 Hit the deck, to land [an aircraft]. 1954 Manch. Guardian Weekly 4 Mar. 2/1 The whole House fell on its knees or went prone behind desks, as one Pacific veteran shouted out: ‘Hit the deck, you damn fools!’ 1956 Amer. Speech 31 193 Hit the deck!, wake up; begin working; jump to the floor. 1958 F. C. Avis Boxing Ref. Dict. (U.S. ed.) 53 Hit the deck, a slang expression meaning to fall to the ring floor. 1961 F. H. Burgess Dict. Sailing 115 Hit the deck, take an upper-deck siesta. 1966 ‘J. Hackston’ Father clears Out 52 I'm going to hit the deck now, and I'm going to turn the lamp out. f. to hit the silk: see quot. 1941. colloquial. ΘΚΠ society > travel > air or space travel > parachuting > parachute [verb (intransitive)] > jump out of aircraft > in emergency to bail out1925 to take to or hit the silk1933 to hit the silk1941 to step out1942 to punch out1964 1941 Amer. Speech 16 166/2 Hit the silk, use a parachute. 1958 ‘P. Bryant’ Two Hours to Doom 104 If it came to the worst, they could always drop altitude and hit the silk. g. to hit off the line: see line n.² Additions a. Compounds hit-wicket n. Cricket the act of hitting the wicket with the bat or a part of the person, by which the batter is ‘out’. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > dismissal of batsman > [noun] > manner of dismissal hit-wicket1773 stumping1844 run-out1851 stump-out1859 catch and bowl1868 obstructing the field (also the ball)1868 1773 in Q. Rev. No. 316. 469 [We find] ‘hit wicket’ [scored for the first time in a match between Hambledon and England in 1773]. 1850 ‘Bat’ Cricketer's Man. (rev. ed.) 47 The hitter is given out as ‘hit wicket’. 1897 K. S. Ranjitsinhji Jubilee Bk. Cricket vi. 274 The umpire at the bowler's end is the proper person to be appealed to..in all cases except those of stumping, hit-wicket, and run out. Phrasal verbs With adverbs in specialized senses. to hit in †1. transitive. To thrust in, push in with a stroke. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > insertion or putting in > insert or put in [verb (transitive)] > forcibly > drive or strike in insmitec1384 to hit ina1400 a1400–50 Alexander 512 Þan wendis þar-out a litill worm & wald it eft enter, And or scho hit in hire hede a hard deth suffirs. 2. intransitive. To strike in: see 19. 3. Polo. (See quot. 1963.) ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > equestrian sports except racing > polo > play polo [verb (transitive)] > actions crook1890 to hit in1906 ride-off1909 1906 T. B. Drybrough Polo (rev. ed.) xiv. 279 A ball once over the side-boards is out, although it rebounds in or is hit in by a player before it touches the ground. 1930 Hurlingham Club Rules of Polo (ed. 43) iii. 60 (heading) Explanation of terms... ‘Hit in’ means ‘to hit the ball into the field of play’. 1963 L. F. Bloodgood & P. Santini Horseman's Dict. 104 Hit in, in polo to hit the ball into the field of play; not to bowl it in under-hand. to hit off 1. transitive. To produce or throw off with success. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > make a success of [verb (transitive)] shift?1533 to pass muster1573 to give a good account of (something, often oneself)1601 to hit off1700 to make a job of1736 to make a do of1834 to make a go of it1836 cut1900 the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > produce or bring forth > with ease, speed, or success, or in large quantities whip1611 to work off1653 to hit off1700 dispatchc1710 to throw off1724 to run off1759 to turn off1825 to turn out1847 to run out1872 to churn out1912 proliferate1912 slug1925 whomp1955 gurgitate1963 1700 W. Congreve Way of World iii. i. 42 We hit off a little Wit now and then, but no Animosity. 1822 M. A. Kelty Osmond I. 87 You used to be rather au fait at hitting off a sonnet. 2. To succeed in attaining or getting at or upon. (Said esp. of striking the scent in hunting.) ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)] findOE yfindOE hita1075 befindc1200 out-findc1300 to try outc1325 to find outa1375 to find upc1390 ascryc1400 outwryc1400 inventc1475 vent1611 to hit off1680 discover1762 to scare up1846 to pick up1869 rumble1897 1680 J. Dryden Kind Keeper iv. i. 42 You have been pricking up and down here upon a cold scent; but, at last, you have hit it off, it seems. 1690 W. Temple Ess. Heroick Virtue iv. 101 in Miscellanea: 2nd Pt. What Prince soever can hit of this great Secret, needs know no more. 1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. x. vi. 52 It happens to this Sort of Men, as to bad Hounds, who never hit off a Fault themselves. View more context for this quotation 1815 Sporting Mag. 45 299 The hounds again hit off the scent. 1879 F. T. Pollok Sport Brit. Burmah I. 69 We started at daybreak..and soon hit off a trail. 3. To describe, represent, or reproduce successfully or to a nicety. ΘΚΠ society > communication > representation > [verb (transitive)] > successfully hit?1602 to touch off1694 to hit off1737 the mind > language > speech > narration > description or act of describing > describe [verb (transitive)] sayOE devisec1300 readc1300 to make (a) showing ofc1330 counterfeitc1369 expressc1386 scrievec1390 descrya1400 scrya1400 drawa1413 representc1425 describec1450 report1460 qualify?1465 exhibit1534 perscribe1538 to set out1545 deline1566 delineate1566 decipher1567 denotate1599 lineate16.. denote1612 givea1616 inform?1615 to shape out1633 speaka1637 display1726 to hit off1737 1737 D. Waterland Rev. Doctr. Eucharist 81 He has very well hit off the Sense. 1831 T. B. Macaulay in Life & Lett. (1883) I. 233 I never saw a character so thoroughly hit off. 1871 S. Smiles Character x. 275 Sometimes he hits off an individual trait by an anecdote. 4. See also senses 1b, 20b, 8c. to hit out †1. transitive. To knock out. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impact > striking > strike [verb (transitive)] > strike out with a blow latcha1225 slentc1380 to hit out1393 squat?1553 slat1577 to knock outa1616 king1916 1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. xxi. 386 And ho so hitteþ out a mannes eye oþer elles hus for-teþ. 1704 J. Pitts True Acct. Mohammetans vii. 98 I have hit out the Devils Eyes already. †2. To bring out, come out with. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ society > communication > manifestation > showing to the sight > exposure to public view > expose to public view [verb (transitive)] to put forth?c1225 to hit out1579 to set a-sunshining1601 to put forward1611 to hold out1613 expose1623 theatrizea1679 produce1686 parade1765 to bring forward1783 1579 E. K. in E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Ep. Ded. He mought needes in singing hit out some of theyr tunes. 3. To strike out, elicit. ΘΚΠ the world > space > place > removal or displacement > extraction > extract [verb (transitive)] > strike or knock out to knock outa1616 rap1795 to hit out1838 1838 J. Keble Occas. Papers (1877) 31 [She] hit out the spark which has now become such an orb of poetical fame. 4. intransitive. To strike out with the fist. Also figurative to deal heavy blows at, to attack vigorously. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impact > striking > strike or deliver blows [verb (intransitive)] > strike out flingc1380 bursta1450 to lash out1567 belay1598 outlash1611 slash1689 to throw out1772 to let out1840 to hit out1856 sock1856 the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > make attack [verb (intransitive)] > attack with words, etc. to let fly1590 to fall aboard1591 to hit out1856 1856 C. Reade It is never too Late I. xv. 290 No! give me a chap that hits out straight from the shoulder. 1873 Punch 10 May 190/1 Mr. Torrens hit out at Mr. Lowe. a1895 Ld. C. E. Paget Autobiogr. (1896) vi. 188 A member [of Parliament] should hit out seldom but hit hard. to hit up 1. To force up; to speed up. With it: to put on pressure; to make efforts in a certain direction. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > rate of motion > move at specific rate [verb (transitive)] > put on (speed) > accelerate festinate1556 accelerate1570 quicken1605 swiften1638 urgea1721 press1742 smarten1825 speed1856 to hit up1893 the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > exert oneself or make an effort [verb (intransitive)] > make efforts in a certain direction to hit up1893 1893 W. K. Post Harvard Stories 49 I could hear him objurgating Steve Hudson for hitting up the stroke. 1893 W. K. Post Harvard Stories 146 When you are doing better than three and a half [miles an hour], you are hitting it up pretty well. 1904 F. Lynde Grafters xx. 257 Two days after the Universal's triumph in the Belmount field, the Argus began to ‘hit it up’ boldly toward the capital. 1912 C. E. Mulford & J. W. Clay Buck Peters, Ranchman iii. 63 Hit her up or you'll be late. 1918 in F. A. Pottle Stretchers (1930) 270 Back he went, while we waited. When he got back with his jam, we hit it up again. It seemed miles before we got anywhere. 2. To make or score (runs). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > bat [verb (transitive)] > score runs fetch1735 run1752 to knock up1837 to knock off1851 to run out1856 to hit off1857 rattle1860 compile1884 to hit up1895 slog1897 1895 Westm. Gaz. 9 May 5/3 Hearne..had hit up 8 runs when he lost Wright. 1899 Daily News 9 June 6/7 They were batting all day, and hit up 397 for the loss of seven wickets. 1928 Evening News 18 Aug. 10/5 Middlesex hit up 365 in the first day's play. 3. to hit (a person) up for: to ask (someone) for. U.S. and New Zealand slang. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > request > request or ask for [verb (transitive)] yearnOE bid971 seek971 askOE beseechc1175 banc1275 yerec1275 cravec1300 desirec1330 impetrec1374 praya1382 nurnc1400 pleadc1400 require1400 fraynec1430 proke1440 requisitea1475 wishc1515 supply1546 request1549 implore?c1550 to speak for ——1560 entreat1565 impetratec1565 obtest?1577 solicit1595 invoke1617 mendicate1618 petition1621 imprecate1636 conjurea1704 speer1724 canvass1768 kick1792 I will thank you to do so-and-so1813 quest1897 to hit a person up for1917 1917 Chrons. N.Z.E.F. 5 Sept. 28/1 We hit him up for a loan for weeks afterwards and he always came to light too. 1935 C. W. T. Craig Paraguayan Interlude xxv. 291 I..hit him up for a job, and here I am. 1936 J. Steinbeck In Dubious Battle 108 Don't hit 'im up for anything else but breakfast. 1957 I. Cross God Boy (1958) xii. 98 ‘I'll have to hit my old man up for a new bike,’ he said. 1972 M. J. Bosse Incident at Naha iii. 135 She hit me up for bread. Draft additions September 2003 colloquial (originally U.S.). to hit the ground running: (literal) to land on the ground and begin to run immediately, esp. as a means of preserving one's momentum; (figurative) to begin and proceed rapidly, confidently, and resolutely; to make a brisk or successful start; (of a politician or administration) to embark upon a course of action immediately after election or appointment. ΚΠ 1895 Sandusky (Ohio) Reg. 30 Apr. 6/4 The bullet went under me. I knew he had five more cartridges, so I hit the ground running and squatted low down when his gun barked a second time. 1935 Washington Post 2 June (Parade of Youth Mag.) 7/2 The bum dropped off while the train was still travelling at a good speed... He..swung down from the ladder at the end of the baggage car and hit the ground running. It took him a dozen paces to check his speed. 1942 Times 4 Aug. 4/5 The swift Japanese penetration is not surprising... As the official spokesman phrased it this morning: ‘The Japanese hits the ground running, and he runs until he is stopped.’ 1960 R. W. Jones in Civil Service Jrnl. July–Sept. 2 (heading) 1961 top team must ‘hit the ground running’. 1980 Forbes (Nexis) 28 Apr. 36 Come Inauguration Day, he should hit the ground running. 1993 Pittsburgh Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 10 Mar. n11 Peter Smith jumps from his moving car and hits the ground running, a pursuer hot on his trail. 2000 C. Hanger World Food: Morocco 156 Don't plan on hitting the ground running, especially if you're on a long trip. It's worth allowing yourself time to adjust physically and mentally to your new environment and lifestyle. Draft additions December 2002 colloquial (originally U.S.). to hit on: to make romantic or sexual advances towards. ΚΠ 1959 Esquire Nov. 70 To hit on a chick means to try and get intimate with her. 1971 D. Wells & S. Dance Night People (1991) v. 79 I saw a little wayback hit on you. In fact, she told me she had eyes for you. 1976 in D. Wepman et al. Life 38 Go hit on one of them Indian bitches. 1992 D. Parry & P. Withrow Jacamar Nest xii. 101 The guy was a complete jerk. Always hitting on women. Even hit on my wife. You never seen my wife, but I'll tell you a guy's gotta be a jerk to try that. 2000 Ralph 7 July 43/2 If a good friend's ex-boyfriend hit on me I wouldn't go out with him because I'd think he was on the rebound and I'm just the closest thing to bounce off. Draft additions September 2003 colloquial (originally and chiefly Australian and New Zealand). to hit one's straps: (esp. in Sport) to perform as well as one can; to hit one's stride; (also) to get going, to get a move on. ΚΠ 1987 Sydney Morning Herald 26 Sept. 11/1 (heading) On radio he is king, the $3 million man, but the corporate John Laws has only just begun to hit his straps. 1988 D. McGill Dict. Kiwi Slang 56 Hit your straps, to take off quickly; possibly from earlier meaning of looking for one's swag-straps, meaning to consider looking for another job. 1992 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 24 Oct. 39 A number of our players have not hit their straps for whatever reason, but they know that if they don't do it shortly, they'll no longer be part of the team. 1999 Dominion (Wellington, N.Z.) (Nexis) 10 Mar. 52 I've told our guys to remember the Wales win against France... Miracles can happen and sooner or later we are going to hit our straps. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online September 2021). < n.c1450v.a1075
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