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suit

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suit

[soot] ,
–noun
1. a set of clothing, armor, or the like, intended for wear together.
2. a set of men's garments of the same color and fabric, consisting of trousers, a jacket, and sometimes a vest.
3. a similarly matched set consisting of a skirt and jacket, and sometimes a topcoat or blouse, worn by women.
4. any costume worn for some special activity: a running suit.
5. Slang. a business executive.
6. Law. the act, the process, or an instance of suing in a court of law; legal prosecution; lawsuit.
7. Cards.
a. one of the four sets or classes (spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs) into which a common deck of playing cards is divided.
b. the aggregate of cards belonging to one of these sets held in a player's hand at one time: Spades were his long suit.
c. one of various sets or classes into which less common decks of cards are divided, as lances, hammers, etc., found in certain decks formerly used or used in fortune telling.
8. suite (defs. 1–3, 5).
9. the wooing or courting of a woman: She rejected his suit.
10. the act of making a petition or an appeal.
11. a petition, as to a person of rank or station.
12. Also called set. Nautical. a complete group of sails for a boat.
13. one of the seven classes into which a standard set of 28 dominoes may be divided by matching the numbers on half the face of each: a three suit contains the 3-blank, 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, 3-5, and 3-6. Since each such suit contains one of each of the other possible suits, only one complete suit is available per game.
–verb (used with object)
14. to make appropriate, adapt, or accommodate, as one thing to another: to suit the punishment to the crime.
15. to be appropriate or becoming to: Blue suits you very well.
16. to be or prove satisfactory, agreeable, or acceptable to; satisfy or please: The arrangements suit me.
17. to provide with a suit, as of clothing or armor; clothe; array.
–verb (used without object)
18. to be appropriate or suitable; accord.
19. to be satisfactory, agreeable, or acceptable.
20. suit up, to dress in a uniform or special suit.
21. follow suit,
a. Cards. to play a card of the same suit as that led.
b. to follow the example of another: The girl jumped over the fence, and her playmates followed suit.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME siute, sute, suite (n.) < AF, OF, akin to sivre to follow. See sue, suite


suitlike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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suit   (sōōt)   
n.  
    1. A set of matching outer garments, especially one consisting of a coat with trousers or a skirt.

    2. An outfit for a special activity: a diving suit; a running suit.

  1. A group of things used together; a set or collection: a suit of sails; a suit of tools.

  2. Games Any of the four sets of 13 playing cards (clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades) in a standard deck, the members of which bear the same marks.

  3. Attendance required of a vassal at his feudal lord's court or manor.

  4. Law A court proceeding to recover a right or claim.

  5. The act or an instance of courting a woman; courtship: She was inclined to accept his suit.

  6. Slang One who wears a business suit, especially an executive.

v.   suit·ed, suit·ing, suits

v.   tr.
  1. To meet the requirements of; fit: This candidate does not suit our qualifications.

  2. To make appropriate or suitable; adapt: builders who suit the house to the owner's specifications.

  3. To be appropriate for; befit: a color that suits you.

  4. To please; satisfy: a choice that suits us all.

  5. To provide with clothing; dress: The NCOs suited the recruits in green uniforms.

v.   intr.
  1. To be suitable or acceptable.

  2. To be in accord; agree or match.

Phrasal Verb(s):
suit upTo put on clothing designed for a special activity: suits up in shorts for a jog.

[Middle English sute, from Anglo-Norman, from Vulgar Latin *sequita, act of following, feminine of *sequitus, past participle of *sequere, to follow, from Latin sequī; see suitor.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
suit

  1. n.
    a businessman or businesswoman; someone who is in charge. : A couple of suits checked into a working-class hotel and caused some eyebrows to raise.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

suit  (n.)
1297, "attendance at court, the company attending," also their livery or uniform, via Anglo-Fr. siwte, from O.Fr. suitte "attendance, act of following," from Gallo-Romance *sequita, fem. of *sequitus, from L. secutus, pp. of sequi "to attend, follow" (see sequel). Meaning "application to a court for justice, lawsuit" is first recorded c.1412. Meaning "set of clothes to be worn together" is attested from c.1420, from notion of the livery or uniform of court attendants (a sense recurded from 1297). As a derisive term for "businessman," it dates from 1979. Meaning "set of playing cards bearing the same symbol" is first attested 1529, also from the notion of livery. Hence, to follow suit (1680), which is from card playing. Suitcase first recorded 1902, originally a case for holding a suit of clothes.

suit  (v.)
"be agreeable or convenient," 1578, from suit (n.), probably from the notion of "provide with a set of new clothes." Suitor "man who is courting a woman" is 1586, from earlier notion of "adherent, follower" (c.1380).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: suit
Function: noun
Etymology: Anglo-French siute suite suit request to initiate legal proceedings, literally, pursuit, from siute, feminine past participle of suire to follow, from Old French sivre —see SUE
: a proceeding to enforce a right or claim; specifically : an action brought in a court seeking a remedy for injuries suffered or a determination of rights : LAWSUIT
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: suit
—see G SUIT, PRESSURESUIT
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Computing Dictionary

suit
1. Ugly and uncomfortable "business clothing" often worn by non-hackers. Invariably worn with a "tie", a strangulation device that partially cuts off the blood supply to the brain. It is thought that this explains much about the behaviour of suit-wearers.
2. A person who habitually wears suits, as distinct from a techie or hacker.
See loser, burble, management, Stupids, SNAFU principle, and brain-damaged.
[The Jargon File]
(1998-07-01)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Idioms & Phrases

suit

In addition to the idioms beginning with suit, also see birthday suit; empty suit; follow suit; long suit; strong point (suit).

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

suit

in dress design, matching set of clothes consisting, for example, of a coat, vest, and trousers. The shift in Western masculine attire from the doublet (q.v.) to the present-day suit began in 1666 at the courts of Louis XIV of France and Charles II of England. The reformed style consisted of a long coat with wide, turned-back sleeves and a row of buttons down the front, some of which were left unbuttoned to reveal a vest (later called a waistcoat in England), an undergarment almost identical to the coat

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

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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