tit
1 Americannoun
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a titmouse.
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any of various other small birds.
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Archaic. a girl or young woman; hussy.
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Archaic. a small or poor horse; nag.
noun
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a teat.
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Slang: Vulgar. a breast.
noun
abbreviation
abbreviation
noun
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slang a female breast
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a teat or nipple
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derogatory a girl or young woman
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slang a despicable or unpleasant person: often used as a term of address
noun
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any of numerous small active Old World songbirds of the family Paridae (titmice), esp those of the genus Parus (bluetit, great tit, etc). They have a short bill and feed on insects and seeds
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any of various similar small birds
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archaic a worthless or worn-out horse; nag
abbreviation
Etymology
Origin of tit1
First recorded in 1540–50; short for titmouse ( def. ); akin to Old Norse titlingr “sparrow,” Norwegian tite “titmouse”; see also tit 2
Origin of tit2
First recorded before 1100; Middle English, Old English tit(t) “teat, pap, breast”; cognate with Middle Low German, Middle Dutch titte, German Zitze, Norwegian titta; akin to tit 1; see also teat ( def. )
Origin of tit3
Perhaps variant of tip 4
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.
See Examples For:
He praised Powell’s avoidance of engaging in tit for tat with the president.
From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026
The culprit: a half-ounce bird called the blue tit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Researchers plan to continue monitoring the great tit population in Wytham Woods to understand how these weather effects may shift in the future.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2026
Among birds, the Japanese tit offers the first experimental evidence for compositional syntax in any non-human species.
From Salon ● May 29, 2025
The blue tit that had been swinging on a bramble, singing “Heigh ho, go-and-get-another-bit-of-moss,” stopped his acrobatics and flew into the wood.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
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It is ordered by the statutes, tit. vi.,—
From Notes and Queries, Number 191, June 25, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by George Bell
Laws regarding the Sangleys.—In lib. vi, tit. xviii.
Various laws on this subject are found in Recopilación leyes de Indias, lib. i, tit. xx; one of these may be found ante, pp.
The above two laws are taken from Recopilacion de leyes, lib. viii, tit. xxix.
From History of the Philippine Islands by James Alexander Robertson
See tit. ix of lib. ix, Recopilación de leyes de Indias which treats of the avería, entitled, “Of the tax, administration, and collection of the duty of avería.”
"Rebuke them cuttingly, that they may be sound in the faith," Tit. i.
From The Divine Right of Church Government by Sundry Ministers Of Christ Within The City Of London by
"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the glory of our great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ," Tit. ii:13.
From Studies in Prophecy by Arno C. Gaebelein
See Ulpian, Tit., xi, 3, 4, and 24.
From A Short History of Women's Rights From the Days of Augustus to the Present Time. with Special Reference to England and the United States. Second Edition Revised, With Additions. by Eugene Arthur Hecker
To speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority, Tit. ii.
From The Divine Right of Church Government by Sundry Ministers Of Christ Within The City Of London by
Thess. ii: 16; "that blessed hope," Tit. ii: 13; "a lively hope," I. Peter i: 3.
From The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young by Richard Newton
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.