to deal a blow or stroke to: Hit the nail with the hammer.
to come against with an impact or collision, as a missile, a flying fragment, a falling body, or the like: The car hit the tree.
to reach with a missile, a weapon, a blow, or the like, as one throwing, shooting, or striking: Did the bullet hit him?
to succeed in striking: With his final shot he hit the mark.
Baseball.
to make (a base hit): He hit a single and a home run.
bat1 (def. 11).
to drive or propel by a stroke: to hit a ball onto the green.
to have a marked effect or influence on; affect severely: We were all hit by the change in management.
to assail effectively and sharply (often followed by out): The speech hits out at warmongering.
to request or demand of: He hit me for a loan.
to reach or attain (a specified level or amount): Prices are expected to hit a new low.The new train can hit 100 miles per hour.
to be published in or released to; appear in: When will this report hit the papers?What will happen when the story hits the front page?
to land on, arrive in, or go to: The troops hit the beach at 0800.When does Harry hit town?I’ve got plans to hit the club with my girls tonight.
to give (someone) another playing card, drink, portion, etc.: If the dealer hits me with an ace, I'll win the hand.Bartender, hit me again.
to come or light upon; meet with; find: to hit the right answer.
to agree with; suit exactly: I'm sure this purple shirt will hit Alfred's fancy.
to solve or guess correctly; come upon the right answer or solution: You've hit it!
to succeed in representing or producing exactly: to hit a likeness in a portrait.
Informal. to begin to travel on: Let's hit the road.What time should we hit the trail?
Slang. to kill; murder.
verb (used without object),hit,hit·ting.
to strike with a missile, a weapon, or the like; deal a blow or blows: The armies hit at dawn.
to come into collision (often followed by against, on, or upon): The door hit against the wall.
(of an internal-combustion engine) to ignite a mixture of air and fuel as intended: This jalopy is hitting on all cylinders.
to come or light (usually followed by upon or on): to hit on a new way.
noun
an impact or collision, as of one thing against another.
a stroke that reaches an object; blow.
a stroke of satire, censure, etc.: a hit at complacency.
Baseball. base hit.
Backgammon.
a game won by a player after the opponent has thrown off one or more men from the board.
any winning game.
a successful stroke, performance, or production; success: The play is a hit.
Slang. a dose of a narcotic drug.
Digital Technology.
(in information retrieval) an instance of successfully locating an item of data, as in a database or on the internet: When I search for my name, I get lots of hits.
an instance of accessing a website.
Slang. a killing, murder, or assassination, especially one carried out by criminal prearrangements.
Verb Phrases
hit off,
to represent or describe precisely or aptly: In his new book he hits off the American temperament with amazing insight.
to imitate, especially in order to satirize.
hit on,Slang. to make a sexual advance to: guys who hit on girls at social events.
hit out,
to deal a blow aimlessly: a child hitting out in anger and frustration.
to make a violent verbal attack: Critics hit out at the administration's new energy policy.
hit up,Slang.
to ask to borrow money from: He hit me up for ten bucks.
to inject a narcotic drug into a vein.
Idioms for hit
hit it off, Informal. to be congenial or compatible; get along; agree: We hit it off immediately with the new neighbors. My sister and Ellen never really hit it off.
hit or miss, without concern for correctness or detail; haphazardly: The paint job had been done hit or miss.
hit the books, Slang. to study hard; cram.
hit the bottle, Slang. bottle1 (def. 8).
hit the high spots,
to go out on the town; go nightclubbing: We'll hit the high spots when you come to town.
to do something in a quick or casual manner, paying attention to only the most important or obvious facets or items: When I clean the house I hit the high spots and that's about all. This course will hit the high spots of ancient history.
Origin of hit
First recorded before 1100; 1865–70, Americanismfor def. 5a; Middle English hitten,Old English hittan; perhaps from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse hitta “to come upon (by chance), meet with”