Showing results for "bit"

• past tense form of bite.
• past participle of bite.

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• bit
  bit
• B.I.T.
  B.I.T.

  abbreviation

  Bachelor of Industrial Technology.

bit

¹ American  

[bit] / bɪt /

noun

1. Machinery.

   1. a removable drilling or boring tool for use in a brace, drill press, or the like.

   2. a removable boring head used on certain kinds of drills, as a rock drill.

   3. a device for drilling oil wells or the like, consisting of a horizontally rotating blade or an assembly of rotating toothed wheels.

2. the mouthpiece of a bridle, having fittings at each end to which the reins are fastened.

3. anything that curbs or restrains.

4. the blade or iron of a carpenter's plane.

5. the cutting part of an ax or hatchet.

6. the wide portion at the end of an ordinary key that moves the bolt.

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verb (used with object)

bitted, bitting

1. to put a bit in the mouth of (a horse).

2. to curb or restrain with, or as with, a bit.

3. to grind a bit on (a key).

idioms

1. take the bit in / between one's teeth, to cast off control; willfully go one's own way.

   He took the bit in his teeth and acted against his parents' wishes.

bit ² American  

[bit] / bɪt /

noun

1. a small piece or quantity of anything.

   a bit of string.

   Synonyms:

   fragment, scrap, jot, iota, whit, grain, speck, particle

2. a short time.

   Wait a bit.

3. Informal. an amount equivalent to 12½ U.S. cents (used only in even multiples).

   two bits; six bits.

4. an act, performance, or routine.

   She's doing the Camille bit, pretending to be near collapse.

5. a stereotypic or habitual set of behaviors, attitudes, or styles associated with an individual, role, situation, etc..

   the whole Wall Street bit.

6. Also called bit part. a very small role, as in a play or motion picture, containing few or no lines.

7. any small coin.

   a threepenny bit.

8. a Spanish or Mexican silver real worth 12½ cents, formerly current in parts of the United States.

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idioms

1. bit by bit, by degrees; gradually.

   Having saved money bit by bit, they now had enough to buy the land.

2. do one's bit, to contribute one's share to an effort.

   They all did their bit during the war.

3. a bit, rather or somewhat; a little.

   a bit sleepy.

4. a bit much, somewhat overdone or beyond tolerability.

5. every bit, quite; just.

   every bit as good.

6. quite a bit, a fairly large amount.

   There's quite a bit of snow on the ground.

bit ³ American  

[bit] / bɪt /

noun

Computers.

1. 1. Also called binary digit. a single, basic unit of digital information that is represented by one of two values, such as 1 or 0, True or False, or Yes or No.

   2. the amount of computer memory required for storing such a unit of information, consisting of one of a series of identical physical components that can assume either of two states corresponding to one of two values.

2. baud. a unit used to measure the speed of signaling or data transfer, equal to the number of pulses or digital bits per second.

   bit rate.

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bit ⁴ American  

[bit] / bɪt /

verb

1. simple past tense and a past participle of bite.

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B.I.T. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. Bachelor of Industrial Technology.

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bit ¹ British  

/ bɪt /

noun

1. a small piece, portion, or quantity

2. a short time or distance

3. informal the value of an eighth of a dollar: spoken of only in units of two

   two bits

4. any small coin

5. short for bit part

6. informal way of behaving, esp one intended to create a particular impression

   she's doing the prima donna bit

7. rather; somewhat

   a bit dreary

8. 1. rather

      a bit of a dope

   2. a considerable amount

      that must take quite a bit of courage

9. slang a sexually attractive woman

10. gradually

11. informal an extramarital affair

12. to make one's expected contribution

13. (foll by as) to the same degree

    she was every bit as clever as her brother

14. not in the slightest; not at all

15. completely apart

    to fall to bits

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bit ² British  

/ bɪt /

noun

1. a metal mouthpiece, for controlling a horse on a bridle

2. anything that restrains or curbs

3. 1. to undertake a task with determination

   2. to rebel against control

4. a cutting or drilling tool, part, or head in a brace, drill, etc

5. the blade of a woodworking plane

6. the part of a pair of pincers designed to grasp an object

7. the copper end of a soldering iron

8. the part of a key that engages the levers of a lock

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verb

1. to put a bit in the mouth of (a horse)

2. to restrain; curb

bit ³ British  

/ bɪt /

noun

1. a single digit of binary notation, represented either by 0 or by 1

2. the smallest unit of information, indicating the presence or absence of a single feature

3. a unit of capacity of a computer, consisting of an element of its physical structure capable of being in either of two states, such as a switch with on and off positions, or a microscopic magnet capable of alignment in two directions

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bit ⁴ British  

/ bɪt /

verb

1. the past tense and (archaic) past participle of bite

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bit Scientific  

/ bĭt /

1. The smallest unit of computer memory. A bit holds one of two possible values, either of the binary digits 0 or 1. The term comes from the phrase binary digit.

2. See Note at byte

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bit Cultural  

1. The smallest unit of information. One bit corresponds to a “yes” or “no.” Some examples of a bit of information: whether a light is on or off, whether a switch (like a transistor) is on or off, whether a grain of magnetized iron points up or down.

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bit More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing bit

• a bit
• champ at the bit
• do one's bit
• every bit
• not a bit
• quite a bit
• take the bit in one's mouth
• two bits

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Discover More

The information in a digital computer is stored in the form of bits.

Other Word Forms

• bitless
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of bit¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English bit(t)e, bit, bete “a strike or hit, a blow with a sharp weapon; the blade, tip, or point of a weapon,” Old English bíte “bite, pain, biting pain of a wound”; cognate with German Biss, Old Norse bit; see origin at bite

Origin of bit²

First recorded before 1000; Middle English bite “a bite, mouthful, portion,” Old English bita “bit, morsel, fragment”; cognate with German Bissen, Old Norse biti; see bite

Origin of bit³

First recorded in 1945–50; b(inary) + (dig)it

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Explanation

Let me give you a bit of advice: Use bit when you're talking about a small amount. Bit is a small but useful word. Like drill bits, which fit on the end of a drill to change its function, the word bit has several uses. Usually, it means a little piece of something, even time. If you ask me when I'm arriving, I might say, "In a little bit." A bit can also be a short theatrical entertainment, the metal piece a horse bites on, or digital information that's 1/8 the size of a byte.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bit bitted bitting

Still, it doesn’t hurt to do a bit more questioning before handing your money over, he noted.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026

It’s a bit much—but so was Capra, and so was the Hollywood he helped to create.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

People sometimes tell me about reading Salon avidly in their youth, how it felt like connecting to something exhilarating and cool and a bit crazy in the strange new expanses of the internet.

From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2026

"He has had a bit of a personal attack here and an unwarranted one at that."

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

I thought it was a bit strange, but did not think anything more about it.

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo

Tom made another rush at the obstinate animal, which cantered off again, working considerably harder than it would if it had submitted patiently to being bitted.

From Dick o' the Fens A Tale of the Great East Swamp by George Manville Fenn

We must have dropped three thousand feet before a sudden calmness came over me and I found this aerial monster as gentle to manage as a perfectly bitted horse.

From Night Bombing with the Bedouins by Robert Henry Reece

So he was to be bitted and bridled, it seemed, in the future.

From Marriage à la mode by Mrs. Humphry Ward

"He rides the biggest whirlwind—he has got it saddled and bitted."

From The Outcry by Henry James

The tumult ceased, the colt submitted, And, like his ancestors, was bitted.

From The Land of Song, Book II For lower grammar grades by Various

The bit of life that is I, in so far as it succeeds in baffling them or in bitting them to its service, will imagine that it is godlike.

From The Cruise of the Snark by Jack London

He had thought and read to some purpose, for he ruled the lay brothers with diligence, and instructed the monks with great care, stirring up the sluggish and bitting the heady into restfulness.

From Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln A Short Story of One of the Makers of Mediaeval England by Charles L. (Charles Latimer) Marson

So the Pyrenees, with her cargo of fire, was hove to, bitting the teeth of the gale and fighting and smashing the pounding seas.

From South Sea Tales by Jack London

Hard-mouthed horses, when accompanied with great spirit, are objectionable, as they require peculiar bitting and the utmost vigilance.

From Domestic Animals History and description of the horse, mule, cattle, sheep, swine, poultry and farm dogs; with directions for their management, breeding, crossing, rearing, feeding, and preparation for a profitable market; also their diseases and remedies. Together with full directions for the management of the dairy. by Richard L. Allen

A little shadow passes over my mind as I think of the analogy to bitting a horse.

From Revisiting the Earth by James Langdon Hill

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Related Words

• dose
• fragment
• item
• part
• portion
• sample
• shard
• slice
• sliver
• snippet
• taste
• trace

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