sit

SIT/sɪt/

Formssits, sitting, sat

Often confused with set

21 meanings of sit

Practice

1
be seatedverbintransitive
To be in, or move into, a position with the weight resting on the buttocks and the upper body upright.
She prefers to sit near the back during long meetings.
The old man sat motionless on the park bench for hours.
Oppositestand, rise
2
verbintransitive
To be situated or placed in a particular position or location.
Several cottages sit along the coastal path.
The castle sits high above the surrounding valley.
UsageUsually followed by a place phrase: sits on a hill, sits high above the valley.
Similarstand, lie, perch, rest
3
verbintransitive
To remain at rest in a given place or condition, staying unused or unchanged for a time.
The unopened letters sit on his desk untouched.
The proposal sat on the manager's desk for weeks.
UsageOften followed by an adjective or a time phrase: sat untouched, sat there for weeks.
Similarlie, languish, remain, rest
4
be a memberverbintransitive
To hold a place as a member of a council, board, or governing body.
Three scientists sit on the advisory committee.
She sits in the upper house of the legislature.
UsageYou sit on a committee or board, but in a parliament or one of its houses.
Similarserve
5
be in sessionverbintransitive
Of a court, legislature, or similar body, to be formally in session and conducting official business.
The committees sit throughout the spring to review the budget.
The supreme court sits to hear appeals from lower courts.
UsageThe court or body is the subject: the court sits in May. Questions usually ask where or when it sits.
Similarconvene, meet
Oppositeadjourn, recess
Note
A verb of legal and parliamentary routine, where the institution itself does the sitting. The progressive form is common because a sitting is a stretch of time with a beginning and an end.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
An institutional sitting is a meeting with a beginning and an end. parliament.uk
6
verbUStransitive or intransitivesportsus
To hold a player back from a game or from the starting lineup, or, of a player, to not take part in a game.
The team plans to sit several starters once it clinches a playoff spot.
He sat three games after the league suspended him for an illegal hit.
UsageA coach sits a player, and a player sits a game. Sit out is common too: he sat out the second half.
Similarbench, rest
Oppositestart (entry)
7
rest onverbintransitive
To lie, rest, or bear on something; to press or weigh upon it.
The decision sat heavily on her conscience for years.
Responsibilities sit lightly on those who delegate well.
UsageUsually with on and a word like heavily, heavy or lightly: it sat heavily on her.
Similarweigh, rest, lie, press
Note
Here sitting becomes a matter of weight: whatever sits on a person presses down on them, usually a trouble, a duty or a memory. Jeremy Taylor writes "The calamity sits heavy on us" in The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living, using heavy rather than heavily, so the word seems to describe the calamity as much as its pressing.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Jeremy Taylor wrote The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. ccel.org
The quoted words occur in Taylor's work, with heavy rather than heavily. ccel.org

Less common meanings

8
be acceptableverbintransitive
To be accepted or considered acceptable; to feel right to those involved.
The proposal sits comfortably with the board's long-term strategy.
The verdict did not sit well with the victims' families.
UsageUsually with an adverb and with: it did not sit well with them, sits awkwardly with the plan.
Similarfit, accord
Oppositeclash, conflict
9
seat someoneverbcausativetransitive
To place someone in a seat or move them into a sitting position.
Please sit the guests at the front table.
The host sat each visitor according to a seating chart.
UsageTakes a person as its object, often with down: sit the children down. Seat is the more formal word.
Similarseat, place
10
childcareverbUStransitive or intransitive
To look after a child or children for a short while in the parents' absence.
I used to sit for families in my neighborhood during college.
He sat for the Johnsons while they attended the concert.
UsageTwo patterns: sit for a family, or sit the children. Babysit is the more usual word.
Note
Stephen King's The Mist (1980) mentions a woman who "sometimes sat Billy." The gerund sitting can name the whole job, as when a 2024 article in The Atlantic calls sitting, in one sociologist's words, a quintessentially American experience.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Stephen King wrote The Mist, published in 1980. stephenking.com
The Mist mentions Mrs. Turman as a woman who sometimes babysat Billy, using the quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
The Atlantic published the referenced article in 2024. theatlantic.com
The article attributes the description of sitting as a quintessentially American experience to sociologist Yasemin Besen-Cassino. theatlantic.com
11
take an examverbAustraliaNew ZealandUKtransitive
To take and complete a formal examination or test.
Thousands of pupils sit national exams each summer.
He sat his history examination without revising properly.
UsageThe exam is a direct object: sit an exam, sit your finals. In American English, people say take.
Similartake
12
hatch eggsverbintransitive
Of a bird, to cover and warm eggs with the body so that they hatch; to brood or incubate them.
Broody hens sit patiently on their eggs until the chicks emerge.
The goose sat on her nest through cold nights to keep the eggs warm.
UsageUsually with on: sit on eggs, sit on a nest.
Similarbrood
13
seated breaknouncountable
An instance or period of sitting down.
A brief sit on the park bench was all he needed to catch his breath.
The old armchair invites a long, lazy sit on a rainy afternoon.
Similarrest
14
fitverbintransitive
To be adjusted to the body or to a surface; to fit in a particular way.
The tailored jacket sits neatly across the chest.
These pants sit a little high at the waist.
UsageUsually with an adverb of manner or position: sits well, sits high at the waist.
Similarfit, hang
Note
A tailor's verb for how a garment lies on the body: a coat sits well, and trousers sit high or low. Shakespeare's Second Part of Henry the Fourth already bends it toward feeling when the new king says the garment of majesty "sits not so easy on me," which points toward the "acceptable" meaning.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
William Shakespeare wrote The Second Part of King Henry IV. gutenberg.org
The new king, Henry V, says that majesty is a garment that “sits not so easy on me.” gutenberg.org
15
verbintransitive
To take a position so that an artist can make a picture, sculpture, or photograph of you.
Wealthy families often sit for formal portraits.
He sat for the sculptor over several long afternoons.
UsageUsed with for and the artist or picture: sit for a painter, sit for a portrait.
Similarpose, model
16
have seats forverbtransitive
To provide seating for a particular number of people.
The theater can sit nearly two thousand patrons.
The conference room sits forty delegates around its long table.
UsageThe place is the subject and a number the object: the table sits eight. Seat works the same way.
Similarseat, hold, accommodate
Note
James Thomson's The City of Dreadful Night shows a reflexive turn, "I sat me weary on a pillar's base," with the speaker seating himself. That pattern is close to the causative meaning of placing someone in a seat.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
James Thomson wrote The City of Dreadful Night. upload.wikimedia.org
The poem contains the exact quoted line; its first-person speaker uses 'me' reflexively, meaning that he seated himself. upload.wikimedia.org
The reflexive construction corresponds to the causative sense of seating someone. en.wiktionary.org
17
endureverbobsoletetransitive
To keep one's seat against a blow or attack; to endure or put up with something without yielding.
Note
A verb of keeping one's seat that drifted toward endurance: to sit a blow was to take it without being unseated. In Amelia Opie's Dangers of Coquetry (1790), it has become simply bearing something unpleasant, when Louisa "could sit it no longer."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Amelia Opie wrote Dangers of Coquetry, first published in 1790. broadviewpress.com
The quotation 'could sit it no longer' describes Louisa's inability to endure an unpleasant conversation; it is narration about her. en.wiktionary.org
18
state of thingsnouncolloquialabbreviationclipping
Clipping of situation: the current state of affairs, especially in terse military or emergency reports.
Note
A separate word that happens to share the spelling: a clipping of situation, with no tie to the verb's ancient root. It means a state of affairs, not a location.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
This noun is a clipping of situation, separately derived from the verb sit. en.wiktionary.org
The clipping does not share the verb's ancient root: situation ultimately derives through Latin situs and sinō, whereas the verb sit derives from *sed-. en.wiktionary.org
19
meditationnounrarecountable
An event, usually lasting a full day or more, devoted mainly to seated meditation.
She signed up for a weekend sit at the retreat center, hoping two days of silence would help her slow down.
The center's annual sit draws students from across the region.
Note
Buddhist practice turns the plain verb of meditation into a noun for the occasion. A sit is a day or more given mainly to seated meditation, and practitioners speak of attending one.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The Buddhist meditation-event noun belongs to the same etymological entry as the verb sit. en.wiktionary.org
The Buddhist event sense typically denotes a full day or more devoted mainly to meditation. en.wiktionary.org
20
wind directionverbintransitive
To occupy a particular position or direction, as the wind does when it blows steadily from one quarter.
Sits the wind in that quarter?
1815, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering
like a good miller that knows how to grind, which way soever the wind sits
1689, John Selden, Table Talk
Note
Wind is the classic subject, and the phrase usually names a quarter of the compass. John Selden's Table Talk (1689) likens a turncoat colonel to a good miller who can grind "which way soever the wind sits." In Walter Scott's Guy Mannering (1815), a character silently wonders "Sits the wind in that quarter?" Selden's wind still turns a mill; Scott's is purely a figure for how matters stand.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts
John Selden's Table Talk was first published in 1689. bob.fooguru.org
Table Talk contains the exact words quoted. en.wiktionary.org
The passage compares Colonel Goring's changing sides to a miller's ability to grind with the wind from any direction. wehd.com
Walter Scott wrote Guy Mannering, first published in 1815. en.wikipedia.org
Guy Mannering contains the quoted question. gutenberg.org
Selden's comparison invokes literal wind driving a mill; Mac-Morlan's question is entirely figurative, expressing his recognition of Charles Hazlewood's interest in Lucy. gutenberg.org
21
noun
A sinking or settling of the roof of a coal mine.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of sit apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English "sitten," from Old English "sittan," from Proto-Germanic "*sitjaną," ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root "*sed-" meaning "sit." It is related to Dutch "zitten," German "sitzen," Swedish "sitta," and also to Latin "sedeo" and Russian "сидеть." The informal noun sit, meaning a situation, is a separate word, shortened from situation.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Sit descends through Middle English sitten and Old English sittan from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed-, meaning sit. en.wiktionary.org
Sit is cognate with Dutch zitten, German sitzen, Swedish sitta, Latin sedeo and Russian сидеть. en.wiktionary.org
The noun sit meaning situation has a separate etymology and is shortened from situation. en.wiktionary.org