mitt
1 Americannoun
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Baseball.
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a rounded glove with one internal section for the four fingers and another for the thumb and having the side next to the palm of the hand protected by a thick padding, used by catchers.
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a somewhat similar glove but with less padding and having sections for the thumb and one or two fingers, used by first basemen.
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a mitten.
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Slang. a hand.
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a glove that leaves the lower ends of the fingers bare, especially a long one made of lace or other fancy material and worn by women.
abbreviation
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mitt1
First recorded in 1755–65; short for mitten
Origin of mitt.2
From the Latin word mitte
Explanation
If you want to play on a baseball team, get a mitt, a protective leather glove. And if you want to take a cake out of the oven, get an oven mitt, a giant heat-proof mitten. A mitt protects a hand. Since mitts were introduced to baseball in the 19th century, every player on a team uses one. Before that, players used their bare hands — or they improvised gloves with the fingers cut off, to slightly pad the catching hand. Today's mitts are wide and sturdy. An oven mitt isn’t helpful in baseball, but it also protects hands. In fact, mitt can also mean "hand" informally: "Get your mitts off my chocolate cupcake!"
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mitt Walker, director of national affairs at the Alabama Farmers Federation, says the region’s farmers are under “significant strain.”
From Salon • May 15, 2026
“There is probably no one else on planet earth that could deliver that kind of bipartisan response,” said Ryan Williams, a former adviser to Mitt Romney.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026
A year after that, he endorsed Mitt “Binders Full of Women” Romney for president by comparing the Republican candidate with a successful CEO.
From Slate • Jan. 14, 2026
He wrote widely there, and advised the presidential campaigns of John McCain, George W. Bush, and Mitt Romney.
From Barron's • Dec. 11, 2025
I used to love to walk these streets of Flushing with Lelia and Mitt, bring them back here on Sunday trips during the summer.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.