fit
Noun pluralfits
Pluralfits
- 1To be the right size and shape for someone or something, or to have enough room to go in a place.
The shoes I ordered online didn't fit, so I sent them back.
These replacement parts fit without any adjustment.
Usagefit is about size, suit about looks: the jacket fits, and the color suits you. Past: fit or fitted, both correct.
- 2
- 3In good physical condition, with a strong and healthy body.
Regular swimming kept him remarkably fit well into his seventies.
Soldiers must stay fit enough to march for miles under heavy loads.
UsageCommon phrases: keep fit, stay fit, fit and healthy, fit enough to climb.
- 4Suitable, good enough, or well adapted for a particular purpose or situation.
The committee judged the candidate fit for the role.
Only materials fit for purpose were used in the bridge.
Usagefit for a purpose, fit to do something: not fit to drink. Set phrases: see fit, think fit, fit for purpose.
Similarsuitable, appropriate, adequate, right, apt
Oppositeunfit, unsuitable, inappropriate
Note
Behind it may lie a military picture, though the origin is uncertain. The earliest meaning seems to have been marshaling troops, which became suiting troops to a place, and from there simply suitable. The King James Bible of 1611 asks whether it is fit to call a king wicked.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The origin is uncertain and may involve marshaling troops. en.wiktionary.org
- The earliest sense apparently involved marshaling troops, developing through suiting troops to a location into suitability. en.wiktionary.org
- The King James Bible was first published in 1611. en.wikipedia.org
- The King James Bible asks whether it is fit to call a king wicked, in Job 34:18. en.wikisource.org
- 5To exist together in harmony, blending or working together without any part clashing against another.
His humor fits well within the team's easygoing culture.
The two melodies fit beautifully when played at once.
UsageOften fit together, or fit in with a group or style.
Similarmesh
- 6The degree to which something matches the required size or shape.
Tailors check the fit across the shoulders before finishing a jacket.
The fit of the prosthetic was adjusted until it felt comfortable.
UsageOften the fit of a coat, a good fit, a perfect fit.
- 7How well two or more things, people, or ideas suit or match each other.
Recruiters look for a strong fit between a candidate and the company culture.
There's a poor fit between what the course promises and what it actually teaches.
UsageOften a good fit or a poor fit, with for or between: a good fit for the job.
Similarmatch, compatibility, correspondence
Oppositemismatch
- 8A sudden, short burst of a strong feeling or of some activity.
A fit of jealousy made him say things he later regretted.
The toddler collapsed into a fit of giggles.
Usagehave a fit or throw a fit means get very upset. a fit of + feeling or activity: a fit of jealousy, a fit of giggles.
- 9
- 10To equip or prepare someone or something with what is needed for a purpose.
Before the voyage, the company fitted the ship with fresh supplies, charts, and spare sails.
Engineers fit each vehicle with a tracking device.
Usagefit something with equipment, often passive: be fitted with a tracking device.
- 11To shape, adjust, or alter something so that it matches or suits something else.
She fits each lesson to the needs of the students in front of her.
The company will fit the software to your team's existing workflow.
Usagefit something to something else: fit each lesson to the students.
Less common meanings
- 12A seizure or convulsion, marked by sudden uncontrolled muscle movements.
He suffered a fit shortly after the accident.
Repeated fits can be a warning sign of epilepsy.
UsageThe everyday phrase is have a fit, which can also mean get very upset, so context matters.
Similarseizure, convulsion, attack, spasm
- 13A sudden, intense onset of a symptom lasting only a short while.
A violent coughing fit left him gasping for breath.
She was seized by a fit of dizziness and had to sit down.
Usagea coughing fit or a fit of coughing: the symptom can go before or after.
Similarbout, attack, spell, spasm, paroxysm
Note
Medicine uses it for any symptom that strikes hard and then passes. The word stresses suddenness and brevity, not cause. A fit of coughing says nothing about what brought it on, only how it arrived.
- 14To experience a seizure or sudden convulsive episode.
Doctors worried the child might fit again before the medication took effect.
She fitted on the ward, and the nurses responded at once.
Note
The verb formed from the seizure noun belongs to clinical and news reporting: a 2016 report says dogs came out of a lake and started fitting. Its forms collide with the fit of tailoring and joinery, so she fitted can mean two different things. Context sorts them out: this verb is said of people and animals and takes no object, while the other is about clothes, parts and spaces.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- A 2016 report says dogs came out of a lake and started fitting. news.sky.com
- 15The degree to which a statistical model agrees with the observed data.
A close fit suggests the curve follows the recorded data points well.
Researchers compared the fit of two competing models before choosing one.
Similaragreement
Note
A statistician's shorthand for goodness of fit: how closely a model's predictions track the observed data. It is the result of the verb of fitting a line. A regression program fits a line to data, and that line is then judged a good or a poor fit. In careful writing, goodness of fit is the full form; fit alone is the working shorthand.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Statistical fit concerns agreement between a model's predictions and observed data, also called goodness of fit. repository.library.noaa.gov
- Fitting a line produces a fitted regression model whose agreement with the data can then be assessed. itl.nist.gov
- 16An outfit; a coordinated set of clothing worn together.
He showed off his fit before heading out for the night.
That fit is incredible. Where did you get the jacket?
Similaroutfit, getup, look, ensemble
Note
Clothing slang clipped from outfit. It is sometimes written with an apostrophe to mark the cut, as in Andrew Marantz's New Yorker piece of 2025, which quotes a "cozy-ass 'fit". It names the whole look, unlike the noun for how clothes sit, so How do you like the fit? asks about the ensemble. Keep it casual; outfit is the safer word elsewhere.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- The clothing noun fit is a clipping of outfit. en.wiktionary.org
- Andrew Marantz wrote the New Yorker article in 2025. newyorker.com
- The article quotes cozy-ass ’fit, with an apostrophe before fit, referring to Hasan Piker's outfit. newyorker.com
- 17Of a person, good-looking and sexually attractive.
She reckons the lead singer is dead fit.
All her mates fancy that fit bloke from the gym.
Similarhot, gorgeous, sexy, attractive
Oppositeugly, unattractive
Note
British slang that plays on the healthy meaning. To call someone fit is to call them attractive, and only context tells the two apart. It compares like any adjective: Kate Nash's "Foundations" (2007) finds the friends much fitter. Mike Skinner's "Fit but You Know It" (2004) shows its natural home in casual speech and song.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Kate Nash's song "Foundations" was first released in 2007. en.wikipedia.org
- "Foundations" describes the boyfriend's friends as "much fitter". music.apple.com
- "Fit but You Know It" is a Mike Skinner song released in 2004 under the name the Streets. en.wikipedia.org
- 18In the card game bridge, the strength of a partnership's combined holding in a suit, especially the trump suit.
Once they found an eight-card fit in hearts, they pushed toward game.
A solid fit in trumps let declarer ruff losers in the short hand.
Oppositemisfit
Note
At the bridge table, fit is what the auction is searching for. It means enough cards in one suit, across both hands, to make that suit a sound choice for trump. Players speak of an eight-card fit, and finding an eight-card fit in a major suit is a common goal of the bidding. The word always counts the partnership's cards together, never one hand alone.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- A fit concerns sufficient combined length in a suit to make it suitable as trump. s3.amazonaws.com
- Finding an eight-card or longer major-suit fit is a common bidding objective. web2.acbl.org
- The card count in a fit refers to the partnership's combined holdings. s3.amazonaws.com
- 19Simple past and past participle of fight. Dated and dialectal (Southern US, Ireland).
'My daddy and his cousin fit over a mule once, and they didn't speak for ten years,' she said with a laugh.
He didn't just set around and try to out sweettalk^([sic]) somebody; he got out and out-fit somebody. He wouldn't be blowing when he told his boys how he fit for the woman he got.
a. 1940, Mildred Haun, “Shin-Bone Rocks”Note
A dialect past built by analogy: fight gave fit just as bite gives bit and light gives lit. It is dated, heard in Ireland, the Southern US and African-American Vernacular English. It survives best in song, as in Joshua fit the battle of Jericho. Mildred Haun even writes out-fit for 'outfought'. Read it as fought, and use fought in standard writing.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- The dialect past fit follows the analogical pattern illustrated by bite–bit and light–lit. en.wiktionary.org
- The song Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho uses fit for fought. en.wikipedia.org
- Mildred Haun uses out-fit meaning outfought. en.wiktionary.org
- 20The part of an object onto which another part seats tightly.
- 21Ready and in a state to act.
So fit to shoot, she singled forth among her foes who first her quarry's strength should feel.
1600, [Torquato Tasso], Godfrey of Bulloigne - 22To be appropriate or in good taste.
- 23A canto or division of a long narrative verse or song.
Dr. Percy has written a long ballad in many fits.
1771, Samuel Johnson, "Letter to Bennet Langton
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
This may come from Middle English fit, which meant "an adversary of equal power," but beyond that its origin is uncertain. It seems to have first meant "to marshal or deploy troops," a sense that moved toward "to suit" and later "suitable." A link to Icelandic fitja, which means "to web, knit, cast on," is also possible.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Fit may derive from Middle English fit meaning an equally powerful adversary; its further origin is uncertain. en.wiktionary.org
- Its original sense apparently concerned marshalling or deploying troops. en.wiktionary.org
- The proposed semantic development proceeds through suiting something to being suitable. en.wiktionary.org
- A relationship with Icelandic fitja, glossed as webbing, knitting or casting on, is possible. en.wiktionary.org
From Middle English fit ("hardship, danger"), of unknown earlier origin, possibly from Old English fitt ("conflict"). Some compare Cornish fit ("bout") or Italian fitta ("sudden stabbing pain").
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- This sense derives from Middle English fit, meaning hardship or danger. en.wiktionary.org
- Its earlier origin is unknown. en.wiktionary.org
- Derivation from Old English fitt, meaning conflict, is proposed as a possibility. en.wiktionary.org
- Cornish fit, meaning bout, has been compared with this English word. en.wiktionary.org
- A possible relationship with Italian fitta, meaning sudden stabbing pain, has been proposed. en.wiktionary.org
This past form of fight was created by analogy with pairs like bite and bit or light and lit.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Fit is a past form of fight. en.wiktionary.org
- Fit was formed from fight by analogy with bite–bit and light–lit. en.wiktionary.org
A clipping of outfit.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The clothing noun fit is a clipping of outfit. en.wiktionary.org