fit

You have nothing to say about it. I'll do exactly as I see fit.

Is it fit to say a king, Thou art wicked?

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 34:18:

He had drunk more than was fit for him, and he was singing some light song, when he saw approaching, as he said, the pale horse mentioned in the Revelation, with Death seated as the rider.

1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

The rest we'll leave to be examined later, if we think fit;

2005, Lesley Brown, Sophist, translation of original by Plato, 243d:

Sergeant Schlock has no horse, no armor, and no sword, but even the mightiest Mongol horse-warrior would see in him a fit heir.

2015 February 1, Howard Tayler, Schlock Mercenary, archived from the original on 2024-05-14:

survival of the fittest

That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in.

c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:

You don't have to be a good climber for Kilimanjaro, but you do have to be fit.

I think the girl working in the office is fit.

I think you are really fit / You're fit but my gosh don't you know it.

2004, Mike Skinner, “Fit but You Know It”, in A Grand Don't Come for Free, performed by The Streets:

I said I'd rather be with your friends, mate, cos they are much fitter.

2007, “Foundations”, in Kate Nash, Paul Eppworth (lyrics), Made of Bricks, performed by Kate Nash:

(British, informal, chiefly slang) Sexually attractive; good-looking; fanciable.

So fit to shoot, she singled forth among her foes who first her quarry's strength should feel.

1600, [Torquato Tasso], “(please specify |book=1 to 20)”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, →OCLC:

en-adj

fit (comparative fitter, superlative fittest)

fitter (comparative)
fittest (superlative)

Possibly from Middle English fit (“an adversary of equal power”), of uncertain further origin. The original sense appears to have been "to marshal or deploy troops", which shifted to "to suit (troops to a certain location" > "suitable", and may be further related to Icelandic fitja (“to web, knit, cast on”).


fit

It fits the purpose.

The speaker should be certain that his subject fits the occasion.

1918, Richard Dennis Teall Hollister, Speech-making, publ. George Wahr, pg. 81

Ten clowns fit in the car, but not a hundred.

The elevator can fit up to 10 people.

(intransitive) To have sufficient space available at some location to be able to be there.

The small shirt doesn't fit me, so I'll buy the medium size.

If I lose a few kilos, the gorgeous wedding dress might fit me.

(transitive) To conform to in size and shape.

I know the pieces fit / 'Cause I watched them fall away

2001, “Schism”, in Maynard James Keenan (lyrics), Adam Jones, Danny Carey, Maynard James Keenan, and Justin Chancellor (music), Lateralus, performed by Tool, track 5:

Even though in a way you let him freeze to death in the water, because the way I see it...
I agree. Y'know, I think he actually could have fitted on that bit of door.
There was plenty of room on the raft.
I know. I know, I know.

2016 February 2, Kate Winslet et al., Jimmy Kimmel Live!:

I wanted to borrow my little sister's jeans, but they didn't fit.

That plug fit into the other socket, but it won't go in this one.

(intransitive) To be of the right size and shape

I want to fit the drapes to the windows.

(transitive, with to) To make conform in size and shape.

I had a suit fitted by the tailor.

(transitive) To tailor; to change to the appropriate size.

These definitions fit most of the usage.

Type D half-lines ending in words of this type are analysed by Hutcheson as ending in two completely unstressed syllables. That analysis must be descriptively correct for, say, the 10th cent.; whether it would have fitted the facts in the 8th cent. is much less clear.

2004 October 14, Don Ringe, “Old English maþelian, mæþlan, mǣlan”, in J. H. W. Penney, editor, Indo-European Perspectives: Studies in Honour of Anna Morpurgo Davies, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 427:

The regression program fit a line to the data.

Williams had a problem fitting his left rear tyre and that left Alonso only 3.1secs adrift when he rejoined from his final stop three laps later.

2012 May 13, Andrew Benson, “Williams's Pastor Maldonado takes landmark Spanish Grand Prix win”, in BBC Sport:

(transitive) To attach, especially when requiring exact positioning or sizing.

The chandler will fit us with provisions for a month.

I'm fitting the ship for a summer sail home.

Thirty years ago, if a girl wished for training, there was none to be had. I can truly say there was no training to be had to fit a woman thoroughly for any life whatever.

1871, Florence Nightingale, Una and the Lion, page 12:

Nor fits it to prolong the heav'nly feast.

1725, Homer, “Book III”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:

The paint, the fabrics, the rugs all fit.

en-verb

fit (third-person singular simple present fits, present participle fitting, simple past and past participle fitted or fit)

fits (present singular third-person)
fitting (participle present)
fitted (participle past)
fitted (past)
fit (participle past)
fit (past)

could fit on the back of a postage stamp

نَاسَبَ

to have right size and cut, as of clothing


fit

This shirt is a bad fit.

Since he put on weight, his jeans have been a tight fit.

It's hard to get a good fit using second-hand parts.

The part of an object upon which anything fits tightly.

The Wonder Bread advertising research results showed the “White Picket Fence” commercial had strong fit ratings.

(advertising) Measure of how well a particular commercial execution captures the character or values of a brand.

During the auction, it is often a partnership's goal to find an eight-card major suit fit.

(bridge) The quality of a partnership's combined holding of cards in a suit, particularly of trump.

yhteensopivuus

advertising: measure of how well a commercial captures the character or values of a brand

fitti

bridge: quality of a partnership's combined holding of cards


fit

Dr. Percy has written a long ballad in many fits.

1771, Samuel Johnson, "Letter to Bennet Langton, Esq. (March 20)," in James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), vol 2

(archaic) A section of a poem or ballad.

Unknown, possibly from Old English fitt (“song”), or from the sense of fitted to length. Compare Old Saxon *fittea (attested in the borrowed Latin vittea).


fit

My grandfather died after having a fit.

(medicine) A sudden and vigorous appearance of a symptom over a short period of time.

He had a laughing fit which lasted more than ten minutes.

She had a fit and threw all of his clothes out through the window.

He threw a fit (of temper) when his car broke down.

A fit of spring-cleaning led Eric Brooks to a box of old newspaper clips from 1997.

2007 July 9, Ryan J. Foley, “Wisconsin city's largest employer threatens to leave over ethanol”, in Associated Press:

նոպա

Unknown, possibly from Old English fitt (“conflict”). Compare Cornish fit (“game match, bout”); or else, probably cognate with Italian fitta (“pain, especially sudden and stabbing pain”).
See more at Latin fīgere.


fit

A spokesman said: "It is believed they (the dogs) got into the lake and drank from it. They came out and started fitting. Shortly after that three of them died and vets are attempting to resuscitate the other one."

2016 May 18, “Three dogs die and seven more ill after drinking from the same Kent lake amid contamination fears”, in The Telegraph:

(intransitive, medicine) To suffer a fit.

en-verb

fit (third-person singular simple present fits, present participle fitting, simple past and past participle fitted)

fits (present singular third-person)
fitting (participle present)
fitted (participle past)
fitted (past)


fit

There wonst was two cats in Kilkenny;
 And aich thought there was one cat too many.
 So they quarrelled and fit;
 And they scratched, and they bit;
 Till, excepting their tails
 And some scraps of their nails,
 Instead of two cats there wan't any.

1867 November, unknown author, The Galaxy, volume 4, New York: W.C. & F.P. Church, retrieved 2023-10-27, page 883:

c. 19th century, unknown author, Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho
Joshua fit the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down

He didn't just set around and try to out sweettalk^([sic]) somebody; he got out and out-fit somebody. He wouldn't be blowing when he told his boys how he fit for the woman he got.

a. 1940, Mildred Haun, “Shin-Bone Rocks”, in The Hawk's Done Gone, page 218:

(African-American Vernacular, Ireland, Southern US, dated) simple past and past participle of fight; fought.

Formed from fight on the model of bite:bit and light:lit.


fit

How do you like the fit?

Piker had already shown off his “cozy-ass ’fit” (sweatpants with kitschy bald eagles, a custom pair of platform Crocs), and recounted his experience the previous night at the Streamer Awards, a red-carpet event honoring A-listers on Twitch—the popular live-streaming site where he is one of the biggest stars, and the only prominent leftist.

2025 March 17, Andrew Marantz, “The Battle for the Bros”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN: