to rest with the body supported by the buttocks or thighs; be seated.
2.
to be located or situated: The house sits well up on the slope.
3.
to rest or lie (usually fol. by on or upon): An aura of greatness sits easily upon him.
4.
to place oneself in position for an artist, photographer, etc.; pose: to sit for a portrait.
5.
to remain quiet or inactive: They let the matter sit.
6.
(of a bird) to perch or roost.
7.
(of a hen) to cover eggs to hatch them; brood.
8.
to fit, rest, or hang, as a garment: The jacket sits well on your shoulders.
9.
to occupy a place or have a seat in an official assembly or in an official capacity, as a legislator, judge, or bishop.
10.
to be convened or in session, as an assembly.
11.
to act as a baby-sitter.
12.
(of wind) to blow from the indicated direction: The wind sits in the west tonight.
13.
to be accepted or considered in the way indicated: Something about his looks just didn't sit right with me.
14.
Informal. to be acceptable to the stomach: Something I ate for breakfast didn't sit too well.
–verb (used with object)
15.
to cause to sit; seat (often fol. by down): Sit yourself down. He sat me near him.
16.
to sit astride or keep one's seat on (a horse or other animal): She sits her horse gracefully.
17.
to provide seating accommodations or seating room for; seat: Our dining-room table only sits six people.
18.
Informal. to serve as baby-sitter for: A neighbor can sit the children while you go out.
—Verb phrases
19.
sit down,
a.
to take a seat.
b.
to descend to a sitting position; alight.
c.
to take up a position, as to encamp or besiege: The military forces sat down at the approaches to the city.
20.
sit in,
a.
to attend or take part as a visitor or temporary participant: to sit in at a bridge game; to sit in for the band's regular pianist.
b.
to take part in a sit-in.
21.
sit in on, to be a spectator, observer, or visitor at: to sit in on classes.
22.
sit on or upon,
a.
to inquire into or deliberate over: A coroner's jury was called to sit on the case.
b.
Informal. to suppress; silence: They sat on the bad news as long as they could.
c.
Informal. to check or rebuke; squelch: I'll sit on him if he tries to interrupt me.
23.
sit out,
a.
to stay to the end of: Though bored, we sat out the play.
b.
to surpass in endurance: He sat out his tormentors.
c.
to keep one's seat during (a dance, competition, etc.); fail to participate in: We sat out all the Latin-American numbers.
24.
sit up,
a.
to rise from a supine to a sitting position.
b.
to delay the hour of retiring beyond the usual time.
c.
to sit upright; hold oneself erect.
d.
Informal. to become interested or astonished: We all sat up when the holiday was announced.
—Idioms
25.
sit on one's hands,
a.
to fail to applaud.
b.
to fail to take appropriate action.
26.
sit pretty, Informal. to be in a comfortable situation: He's been sitting pretty ever since he got that new job.
27.
sit tight, to bide one's time; take no action: I'm going to sit tight till I hear from you.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME sitten, OE sittan; c. D zitten, G sitzen, ON sitja; akin to Goth sitan, L sedére, Gk hézesthai (base hed-); cf. set, sedate, cathedral, nest]
(of persons) having the torso erect and legs bent with the body supported on the buttocks; "the seated Madonna"; "the audience remained seated" [syn: seated] [ant: cut down]
2.
not moving and therefore easy to attack; "a sitting target"
noun
1.
(photography) the act of assuming a certain position (as for a photograph or portrait); "he wanted his portrait painted but couldn't spare time for the sitting"
2.
the act of assuming or maintaining a seated position; "he read the mystery at one sitting"
3.
a meeting of spiritualists; "the seance was held in the medium's parlor" [syn: seance]
Main Entry: sit Function: intransitive verb Inflected Forms: sat; sit·ting 1: to occupy a place as a member of an official or formal body
<sit in Congress> <sit on a board of directors> 2: to hold a session : conduct official business <the court sits in the state
capital>
Sit\, v. i. [imp. Sat(Sate, archaic); p. p. Sat (Sitten, obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. Sitting.] [OE. sitten, AS. sittan; akin to OS. sittian, OFries. sitta, D. zitten, G. sitzen, OHG. sizzen, Icel. sitja, SW. sitta, Dan. sidde, Goth. sitan, Russ. sidiete, L. sedere, Gr. ???, Skr. sad. [root]154. Cf. Assess,Assize, Cathedral, Chair, Dissident, Excise, Insidious, Possess, Reside, Sanhedrim, Seance, Seat, n., Sedate, 4th Sell, Siege, Session, Set, v. t., Sizar, Size, Subsidy.]1. To rest upon the haunches, or the lower extremity of the trunk of the body; -- said of human beings, and sometimes of other animals; as, to sit on a sofa, on a chair, or on the ground. And he came and took the book put of the right hand of him that sate upon the seat. --Bible (1551) (Rev. v. 7.) I pray you, jest, sir, as you sit at dinner. --Shak. 2. To perch; to rest with the feet drawn up, as birds do on a branch, pole, etc. 3. To remain in a state of repose; to rest; to abide; to rest in any position or condition. And Moses said to . . . the children of Reuben, Shall your brothren go to war, and shall ye sit here? --Num. xxxii. 6. Like a demigod here sit I in the sky. --Shak. 4. To lie, rest, or bear; to press or weigh; -- with on; as, a weight or burden sits lightly upon him. The calamity sits heavy on us. --Jer. Taylor. 5. To be adjusted; to fit; as, a coat sts well or ill. This new and gorgeous garment, majesty, Sits not so easy on me as you think. --Shak. 6. To suit one well or ill, as an act; to become; to befit; -- used impersonally. [Obs.] --Chaucer. 7. To cover and warm eggs for hatching, as a fowl; to brood; to incubate. As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not. --Jer. xvii. 11. 8. To have position, as at the point blown from; to hold a relative position; to have direction. Like a good miller that knows how to grind, which way soever the wind sits. --Selden. Sits the wind in that quarter? --Sir W. Scott. 9. To occupy a place or seat as a member of an official body; as, to sit in Congress. 10. To hold a session; to be in session for official business; -- said of legislative assemblies, courts, etc.; as, the court sits in January; the aldermen sit to-night. 11. To take a position for the purpose of having some artistic representation of one's self made, as a picture or a bust; as, to sit to a painter. To sit at, to rest under; to be subject to. [Obs.] "A farmer can not husband his ground so well if he sit at a great rent". --Bacon. To sit at meat or at table, to be at table for eating. To sit down. (a) To place one's self on a chair or other seat; as, to sit down when tired. (b) To begin a siege; as, the enemy sat down before the town. (c) To settle; to fix a permanent abode. --Spenser. (d) To rest; to cease as satisfied. "Here we can not sit down, but still proceed in our search." --Rogers. To sit for a fellowship, to offer one's self for examination with a view to obtaining a fellowship. [Eng. Univ.] To sit out. (a) To be without engagement or employment. [Obs.] --Bp. Sanderson. (b) To outstay. To sit under, to be under the instruction or ministrations of; as, to sit under a preacher; to sit under good preaching. To sit up, to rise from, or refrain from, a recumbent posture or from sleep; to sit with the body upright; as, to sit up late at night; also, to watch; as, to sit up with a sick person. "He that was dead sat up, and began to speak." --Luke vii. 15.
the attitude generally assumed in Palestine by those who were engaged in any kind of work. "The carpenter saws, planes, and hews with his hand-adze, sitting on the ground or upon the plank he is planning. The washerwoman sits by the tub; and, in a word, no one stands when it is possible to sit. Shopkeepers always sit, and Levi sitting at the receipt of custom (Matt. 9:9) is the exact way to state the case.", Thomson, Land and Book.
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