sit Hear it!

sit Definition

sit (sit)

intransitive verb sat, sit′·ting

    1. to rest the weight of the body upon the buttocks and the back of the thighs, as on a chair; be seated
    2. to rest on the haunches with the forelegs braced: said of quadrupeds
    3. to perch or roost: said of birds
  2. to cover and warm eggs for hatching; set; brood
    1. to occupy a seat in the capacity of judge, legislator, etc.
    2. to be in session, as a court or legislature
  4. to pose for one's portrait or as a model
  5. Chiefly Brit. to take an examination (for a degree, scholarship, etc.)
  6. to be or remain inactive
  7. to be located or have a place a house sitting up on the hill
  8. to fit or hang on the wearer a coat that sits loosely
  9. to rest or lie as specified cares sit lightly upon him
  10. ☆
    1. baby-sit
    2. to care for a person or thing as for a short time: usually used in combination housesit
  11. to have a certain direction; set: said of the wind

Etymology: ME sitten < OE sittan, akin to ON sitja, Ger sitzen < IE base *sed-, to sit > L sedere, Gr hizein, Welsh seddu, to sit

transitive verb

  1. to place in a seat; cause to sit; seat: often used reflexively to sit oneself down
  2. to keep one's seat on (a horse, etc.)
  3. to have seats or seating space for
  4. ☆ baby-sit

noun

  1. the time spent in a seated position, esp. while waiting
  2. the way a coat, dress, etc. hangs when put on

sit Idioms

sit back

  1. to relax
  2. to remain passive

sit down

  1. to lower oneself to a sitting position; take a seat
  2. to settle down for or as for a siege

sit in

to take part; participate; attend: often with on

sit on

or sit upon
  1. to serve as a member of (a jury, committee, etc.)
  2. to confer on or investigate
  3. Informal to suppress, repress, or squelch
  4. Informal to hold (something) back from being considered or acted on

sit on one's hands

☆
  1. to fail to applaud
  2. to fail to do what is needed or expected

sit out

  1. to stay until the end of
  2. to stay longer than (another); outsit
  3. to remain seated during or take no part in (a dance, game, etc.)

sit up

  1. to rise to a sitting position
  2. to sit erect
  3. to sit solely on the haunches with the forelegs held up in front of the chest: said of animals
  4. to put off going to bed
  5. Informal to become suddenly alert

sit well with

to be agreeable to

sit Synonyms

sit

v.

  1. To assume a sitting posture

    be seated, seat oneself, take a seat, sit down, sit up, squat, perch, hunker*, park oneself*, take a load off one's feet*, take a load off one's mind*.

    Antonyms rise*, stand up, get up.

  2. To occupy a seat

    have a place, have a chair, sit in, take a chair, take a seat, take a place; see also occupy 2.

    Antonyms stand*, give up one's seat, be without a seat.

  3. To lie

    remain, rest, bear on; see lie 2, relax 1.

  4. To hold an assemblage

    convene, come together, hold an assembly; see assemble 2, meet 2.

sit Usage Examples

Object

  • exam: On 16th May, 120 pupils from across the country will sit a multiple choice exam in biotechnology, online.
  • room: Our guests have private use of an elegant sitting room in what was formerly the library of the house.
  • upright: She was sitting bolt upright with her jaw set in a tight line, desperately trying not to laugh.
  • examination: Pupils sit three examinations at the end of year 12.

Preposition: on

  • bench: A family law judge in London invited him to sit on the bench for a day there.
  • fence: Russia, France and China opposed him, and Germany sat on the fence.
  • chair: We, together with some of the teachers, sat on chairs at the back of the gallery.

Preposition: at

  • desk: Even the laziest of us who sit at desk all day do around 2,000.
  • table: In fact, a young man sitting at a nearby table was already attracted.

Preposition: as

    Adjective complement

    • cross-legged: Nights found Rebecca sitting cross-legged on the floor inside the family parlor while little Barbara Anne wailed from upstairs.
    • idle: But it is not good for me to sit idle while you work.
    • unaided: Measuring 89cm x 56 x 50 cm when erected it is suitable for use until baby can sit unaided.
    • next: We've got the Saracens - sitting next to the Jones Street Boys.

    Followed by an intransitive particle

    • down: I managed to sit down in front of the TV for most of the day.
    • around: Possible scene of first issue; a bunch of guys sitting around at a bar, telling Urban Myths to each other for laughs.

    Preposition: in

    • chair: The next thing I knew was sitting in a chair indoors by the hob, & my mother crying over me.
    • front: There they are, sitting in front of you, awaiting your command.
    • silence: The minister sat in silence in front of the fire.
    • armchair: Whenever possible you should sit in a suitable armchair.
sit Quotes

A man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he cannot sit on it.

—Inge,William Ralph

On a voulu, a'   tort, faire de la bourgeoisie une classe. La bourgeoisie est tout simplement la portion contente¤  e du peuple. Le bourgeois, c'est l'homme qui a maintenant le temps de s'asseoir.Une chaise n'est pas une caste. Humboldt Wrongly, one wanted to make the bourgeoisie a class. The bourgeoisie is simply a contented section of the public. A bourgeois is a man who now has the time to sit down. A chair is not a caste.

—Hugo,Victor Marie

There's one thing to be said about being Presidentö nobody can tell you when to sit down.

—Eisenhower, Dwight D(avid)

It takes a lot of time to be a genius, you have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing.

—Stein, Gertrude

To sit back hoping that some day, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping that he will eat you lastöbut eat you he will.

—Reagan, Ronald Wilson

   Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatsoever abysses Nature leads, or you shall learn nothing.

—Huxley,T(homas) H(enry)

Women liketosit downwith trouble as if it were knitting.

—Glasgow, Ellen Anderson Gholson

If youcan't saysomething good about someone, sit right here by me.

—Longworth, Alice Roosevelt

My soul; sit thou a patient looker-on; Judge not the play before the play is done: Her plot hath many changes, every day Speaks a new scene; the last act crowns the play.

—Quarles, Francis

They're going to have to be made to sit up and take notice. They're going to have to be made to realise who we are. My father had a chain of dry cleaners.

—Bennett, Alan

Teach us to care and not to care Teach us to sit still.

—Eliot,T(homas) S(tearns)

Though I sit down now, thetime will come whenyou will hear me.

—Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield

By the waters of Babylon we sit down and weep, when we think of thee,OAmerica!

—Walpole, Horace, 4th Earl of Orford

'You must sit down,'says Love,'and taste my meat,' So I did sit and eat.

—Herbert, George

Browse dictionary entries near sit

  1. ‹ Sisyphus
  2. ‹ Sisyphean
  3. ‹ sistrum
  4. ‹ sistroid
  5. ‹ Sistine Chapel
  6. ‹ Sistine
  7. ‹ sisterly
  8. ‹ sisterhood
  9. ‹ sister-in-law
  10. ‹ sister
  1. sit back ›
  2. sit-down ›
  3. sit-in ›
  4. sit on or upon ›
  5. sit out ›
  6. sit-up ›
  7. sit up for ›
  8. sit well with ›
  9. sitar ›
  10. sitcom ›