# kit

Pronunciation: say "KIT" /kɪt/

## Noun

1. A set of tools, equipment, clothing, or personal belongings gathered for a particular activity or journey, such as a workman's tools or a soldier's gear.
   - Simple: A set of tools, equipment, clothes, or other things you need for a job, activity, or trip.
   - _The surveyor laid out her kit on the tailgate of the truck._
   - _Travelers were told to keep their overnight kit in a single bag._
2. A package of components that the purchaser builds into a finished item themselves.
   - Simple: A set of parts you buy and put together yourself.
   - _He spent the weekend building a guitar from a mail-order kit._
   - _The drone arrived as a kit, with the rotors packed separately._
3. A drummer's full set of drums and cymbals, played together as a single instrument.
   - Simple: A set of drums and cymbals played by one person.
   - _He bought a five-piece kit with two crash cymbals._
   - _The band's new kit included an electronic snare pad._
4. The standard clothing, accessories, and equipment worn by players on a sports team. *(UK)*
   - Simple: The clothes and gear that players on a team wear.
   - _The club released its new home kit ahead of the season._
   - _Players are expected to keep their kit clean between matches._
7. Clothing in general, especially the clothes a person happens to be wearing. *(colloquial, UK)*
   - Simple: Clothes, especially the clothes that someone is wearing.
   - _She left her kit in a heap on the bedroom floor._
   - _Throw on some warm kit before you head outside._
6. The young of any of various small fur-bearing mammals, such as a fox, rabbit, beaver, ferret, skunk, weasel, or cat.
   - Simple: A baby fox, rabbit, beaver, ferret, skunk, or similar small furry animal.
   - _At dusk, the vixen nudged her kit out to explore._
   - _Hunters rarely glimpse a fox tending its kits in dense cover._
10. The set of skills and abilities available to a playable character in a game.
   - Simple: The skills and powers a game character has.
   - _Players unlock new abilities to round out their character's kit._
   - _The latest patch reworked the assassin's kit entirely._

## Verb

5. To provide someone with the equipment or clothing needed for an activity.
   - Simple: To give someone the clothes or gear they need.
   - _The company will kit its new staff with safety gear before their first shift._
   - _Before the trip, the club kitted out every new member with a helmet, gloves, and a life vest._
9. To collect or assemble separate items together into kits.
   - Simple: To gather parts or items together into ready-to-use sets.
   - _Our team kits the components for every machine before the build starts._
   - _Suppliers kit the hardware so each customer gets one package._

## Noun

8. The whole set of things; everything taken together. *(dated)*
   - Simple: The whole lot of something, all of it together.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A small fox of the arid regions of western North America, notable for its oversized ears (Vulpes macrotis).
- (noun) A full software distribution, rather than a patch or upgrade.
- (noun) Synonym of kit violin: a tiny pocket violin once used by dancing masters.
- (noun) A basket woven especially from straw or rushes for holding fish, and by extension the quantity it holds, used as a measure of weight.
- (noun) A round wooden vessel built from hooped staves, resembling a small tub or pail.
- (noun) A flock of pigeons, especially tame, trained birds kept and flown together.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–5, 7–10** — From Middle English kyt (also kytt, kytte), from Middle Dutch kitte, meaning a wooden vessel made of hooped staves, and related to Dutch kit ("tankard"). The further origin is unknown, though it is perhaps from Proto-Germanic *kitjō-, *kut-. The sense shifted to a soldier's knapsack contents in the late 18th century, to any travelling necessaries in the early 19th century, and to a set of parts for assembly in early 20th-century US English.
**Meaning 6** — A short form of kitten or kitling, recorded from the 16th century (spelled kytte, kitt). From the 19th century it was extended to other young animals such as the beaver, fox, mink, and muskrat, and to the kit fox; this later usage was perhaps influenced by chit.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/kit (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).