fit

1 [fit] adjective, fit·ter, fit·test, verb, fit·ted or fit, fit·ting, noun
adjective
1.
adapted or suited; appropriate: This water isn't fit for drinking. A long-necked giraffe is fit for browsing treetops.
2.
proper or becoming: fit behavior.
3.
qualified or competent, as for an office or function: a fit candidate.
4.
prepared or ready: crops fit for gathering.
5.
in good physical condition; in good health: He's fit for the race.
6.
Biology.
a.
being adapted to the prevailing conditions and producing offspring that survive to reproductive age.
b.
contributing genetic information to the gene pool of the next generation.
c.
(of a population) maintaining or increasing the group's numbers in the environment.
verb (used with object)
7.
to be adapted to or suitable for (a purpose, object, occasion, etc.).
8.
to be proper or becoming for.
9.
to be of the right size or shape for: The dress fitted her perfectly.
10.
to adjust or make conform: to fit a ring to the finger.
11.
to make qualified or competent: qualities that fit one for leadership.
12.
to prepare: This school fits students for college.
13.
to put with precise placement or adjustment: He fitted the picture into the frame.
14.
to provide; furnish; equip: to fit a door with a new handle.
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verb (used without object)
15.
to be suitable or proper.
16.
to be of the right size or shape, as a garment for the wearer or any object or part for a thing to which it is applied: The shoes fit.
noun
17.
the manner in which a thing fits: The fit was perfect.
18.
something that fits: The coat is a poor fit.
19.
the process of fitting.
Verb phrases
20.
fit outup, to furnish with supplies, equipment, clothing, furniture, or other requisites; supply; equip: to fit out an expedition.
Idioms
21.
fit to be tied, Informal. extremely annoyed or angry: He was fit to be tied when I told him I'd wrecked the car.
22.
fit to kill, Informal. to the limit; exceedingly: She was dressed up fit to kill.
Origin:
1325–75; Middle English fitten; akin to Middle Dutch vitten to befit

Related forms
fit·ta·ble, adjective
un·fit·ta·ble, adjective

Synonyms
1. suitable, apt, corresponding, meet, applicable, apropos. 2. fitting, befitting. 5. healthy, hale, hardy, strong, robust.

Usage note
Both fit and fitted are standard as past tense and past participle of fit1: The new door fit (or fitted) the old frame perfectly. The suit had fitted (or fit) well last year. Fitted is somewhat more common than fit in the sense “to adjust, make conform”: The tailor fitted the suit with a minimum of fuss. In the passive voice, fitted is the more common past participle: The door was fitted with a new handle.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

fit

2 [fit]
noun
1.
a sudden, acute attack or manifestation of a disease, especially one marked by convulsions or unconsciousness: a fit of epilepsy.
2.
an onset, spell, or period of emotion, feeling, inclination, activity, etc.: a fit of anger; a fit of weeping.
Idioms
3.
by/in fits and starts, at irregular intervals; intermittently: This radio works by fits and starts.
4.
throw a fit, to become extremely excited or angry: Your father will throw a fit when he hears what you have done.
Origin:
before 1000; Middle English; Old English fitt round of fighting. See fit3

fit

3 [fit]
noun Archaic.
1.
a song, ballad, or story.
2.
a division of a song, ballad, or story.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English; Old English fitt round of singing, canto, song, speech

fit

4 [fit]
verb Nonstandard (chiefly Older Use) .
simple past tense of fight.

FIT

Banking. Federal Insurance Tax.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To fit
Collins
World English Dictionary
fit1 (fɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—vb , (US) fits, fitting, fitted, fit
1.  to be appropriate or suitable for (a situation, etc)
2.  to be of the correct size or shape for (a connection, container, etc)
3.  (tr) to adjust in order to render appropriate: they had to fit the idea to their philosophy
4.  (tr) to supply with that which is needed
5.  (tr) to try clothes on (someone) in order to make adjustments if necessary
6.  (tr) to make competent or ready: the experience helped to fit him for the task
7.  (tr) to locate with care
8.  (intr) to correspond with the facts or circumstances
 
—adj , fits, fitting, fitted, fit, fitter, fittest
9.  suitable to a purpose or design; appropriate
10.  having the right qualifications; qualifying
11.  in good health
12.  worthy or deserving: a book fit to be read
13.  (foll by an infinitive) in such an extreme condition that a specified consequence is likely: she was fit to scream; you look fit to drop
14.  informal chiefly (Brit) (of a person) sexually attractive
 
—n
15.  the manner in which something fits
16.  the act or process of fitting
17.  statistics See goodness of fit the correspondence between observed and predicted characteristics of a distribution or model
 
[C14: probably from Middle Dutch vitten; related to Old Norse fitja to knit]
 
'fittable1
 
—adj

fit2 (fɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  pathol a sudden attack or convulsion, such as an epileptic seizure
2.  a sudden spell of emotion: a fit of anger
3.  an impulsive period of activity or lack of activity; mood: a fit of laziness
4.  give a person a fit to surprise a person in an outrageous manner
5.  informal have a fit, throw a fit to become very angry or excited
6.  in fits and starts, by fits and starts in spasmodic spells; irregularly
 
—vb , fits, fitting, fitted
7.  informal (intr) to have a sudden attack or convulsion, such as an epileptic seizure
 
[Old English fitt conflict; see fit³]

fit3 (fɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
archaic a story or song or a section of a story or song
 
[Old English fitt; related to Old Norse fit hem, Old High German fizza yarn]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

fit
1823, "the fitting of one thing to another," later (1831) "the way something fits." Originally "an adversary of equal power" (mid-13c.), obscure, possibly from O.E. fitt "a conflict, a struggle" (see fit (n.2)). The verb meaning "be suitable" is probably from early 15c. and
likely from the adjective. Related: Fitted; fitting.

fit
"paroxysm, sudden attack" (as of anger), 1540s, probably via M.E. sense of "painful, exciting experience," from O.E. fitt "conflict, struggle," of uncertain origin, with no clear cognates outside English. Phrase by fits and starts first attested 1610s.

fit
"suited to the circumstances, proper," mid-15c., of unknown origin, perhaps from M.E. noun fit "an adversary of equal power" (mid-13c.), which is perhaps connected to fit (n.1). The verb meaning "to be the right shape" is first attested 1580s. Survival of the fittest (1867) coined by H. Spencer.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

fit 1 (fĭt)
v. fit·ted or fit, fit·ted, fit·ting, fits
To be the proper size and shape. adj. fit·ter, fit·test
Physically sound; healthy. n.
The degree of precision with which surfaces are adjusted or adapted to each other in a machine, device, or collection of parts.

fit 2 (fĭt)
n.

  1. A seizure or a convulsion, especially one caused by epilepsy.

  2. The sudden appearance of a symptom such as coughing or sneezing.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
FIT
frequent international traveler
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

fit

In addition to the idioms beginning with fit, also see give someone fits; have a fit; if the shoe fits; see fit to; survival of the fittest.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

fit

in literature, a division of a poem or song, a canto, or a similar division. The word, which is archaic, is of Old English date and has an exact correspondent in Old Saxon fittea, an example of which occurs in the Latin preface of the Heliand. It probably represents figurative use of a common Germanic noun referring to the unraveled edge of a fabric. Lewis Carroll revived this archaic poetic division (perhaps to lend gravity) in the composition of his 132-verse nonsense poem The Hunting of the Snark (1876), beginning with "Fit the First: The Landing" and ending with "Fit the Eighth: The Vanishing."

Learn more about fit with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
All life forms live because of their ability to adapt to their environment, ie, fit enough to survive.
The more aspects of our society he can fit between the book's covers, the more ambitious he is considered to be.
The results fit predictions of the effects of global warming.
The trouble was not necessarily the engineering, or even the peculiar design, which looked fit to split firewood.
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