Meaning of hit in English
Table of contents
Pronunciation
/hɪt/US accent
UK accent
to browse different examples of pronunciation.Verb
hitEtymology
late Old English hittan (in the sense ‘come upon, find’), from Old Norse hitta‘come upon, meet with’, of unknown originDefinitions
1. cause to move by strikingExamples
- « hit a ball »
Derived terms
- 2. hit against
Examples
- « come into sudden contact with »
- « The car hit a tree »
- « He struck the table with his elbow »
Antonyms
Derived terms
- 3. affect or afflict suddenly, usually adversely
Examples
- « We were hit by really bad weather »
- « He was stricken with cancer when he was still a teenager »
- « The earthquake struck at midnight »
- 4. deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument
Examples
- « He hit her hard in the face »
Derived terms
- 5. reach a destination, either real or abstract
Examples
- « We hit Detroit by noon »
- « The water reached the doorstep »
- « We barely made it to the finish line »
- « I have to hit the MAC machine before the weekend starts »
Derived terms
- 6. reach a point in time, or a certain state or level
Examples
- « The thermometer hit 100 degrees »
- « This car can reach a speed of 140 miles per hour »
Derived terms
- 7. hit with a missile from a weapon
Derived terms
- 8. cause to experience suddenly
Examples
- « Panic struck me »
- « An interesting idea hit her »
- « A thought came to me »
- « The thought struck terror in our minds »
- « They were struck with fear »
- 9. make a strategic, offensive, assault against an enemy, opponent, or a target
Examples
- « The Germans struck Poland on Sept. 1, 1939 »
- « We must strike the enemy's oil fields »
- « in the fifth inning, the Giants struck, sending three runners home to win the game 5 to »
Derived terms
- 10. hit the intended target or goal
Derived terms
- 11. produce by manipulating keys or strings of musical instruments, also metaphorically
Examples
- « The pianist strikes a middle C »
- « strike 'z' on the keyboard »
- « her comments struck a sour note »
- 12. encounter by chance
Examples
- « I stumbled across a long-lost cousin last night in a restaurant »
- 13. gain points in a game
Examples
- « The home team scored many times »
- « He hit a home run »
- « He hit .300 in the past season »
Derived terms
- 14. consume to excess
Examples
- « hit the bottle »
- 15. kill intentionally and with premeditation
Examples
- « The mafia boss ordered his enemies murdered »
Derived terms
- 16. drive something violently into a location
Examples
- « he hit his fist on the table »
- « she struck her head on the low ceiling »
- 17. pay unsolicited and usually unwanted sexual attention to
Examples
- « He tries to hit on women in bars »
Noun
hitDefinitions
1. (baseball) a successful stroke in an athletic contest (especially in baseball)Examples
- « he came all the way around on Williams' hit »
Derived terms
- 2. the act of contacting one thing with another
Examples
- « repeated hitting raised a large bruise »
- « after three misses she finally got a hit »
Derived terms
- 3. a conspicuous success
Examples
- « that song was his first hit and marked the beginning of his career »
- « that new Broadway show is a real smasher »
- « the party went with a bang »
- 4. (physics) an brief event in which two or more bodies come together
Examples
- « the collision of the particles resulted in an exchange of energy and a change of direction »
Derived terms
- 5. a dose of a narcotic drug
- 6. a murder carried out by an underworld syndicate
Examples
- « it has all the earmarks of a Mafia hit »
Derived terms
- 7. a connection made via the internet to another website
Examples
- « WordNet gets many hits from users worldwide »
Famous quotes
- « When I was growing up, Dr. Seuss was really my favorite. There was something about the lyrical nature and the simplicity of his work that really hit me. » Tim Burton
- « I decided to pursue music, so I dropped out of school and I told my parents I didn't want any money from them. I got three jobs and I just hit the ground running. » Lady Gaga
- « I was a happy kid up until I hit the teen years. » Rick Springfield
- « I mean, I love L.A. - I love living here. But I wish that we could make things without the need to hit a home run every single time. It's a unique thing to Hollywood that if you don't do that every time, then you're considered a failure. » Kristen Stewart
- « My favorite show is America's Funniest Home Videos. People will get hit on the head and I feel bad cause I'm laughing my head off! » Corbin Bleu