a removable drilling or boring tool for use in a brace, drill press, or the like.
a removable boring head used on certain kinds of drills, as a rock drill.
a device for drilling oil wells or the like, consisting of a horizontally rotating blade or an assembly of rotating toothed wheels.
the mouthpiece of a bridle, having fittings at each end to which the reins are fastened.
anything that curbs or restrains.
the blade or iron of a carpenter's plane.
the cutting part of an ax or hatchet.
the wide portion at the end of an ordinary key that moves the bolt.
verb (used with object),bit·ted,bit·ting.
to put a bit in the mouth of (a horse).
to curb or restrain with, or as with, a bit.
to grind a bit on (a key).
Idioms
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.
Origin of bit
1
before 900;Middle Englishbite,Old English: action of biting; cognate with GermanBiss,Old Norsebit. See bite
Related formsbit·less, adjective
bitt
[bit]Nautical
noun
Also called bollard. a strong post of wood or iron projecting, usually in pairs, above the deck of a ship, used for securing cables, lines for towing, etc.
verb (used with object)
to wrap (a cable) around a bitt to secure it.
Origin of bitt
Middle English, perhaps < Dutch or Low German; compare Dutch,Low Germanbeting, in same sense, akin to Middle High Germanbizze wooden peg, Old Norsebiti crossbeam
informalway of behaving, esp one intended to create a particular impressionshe's doing the prima donna bit
a bitrather; somewhata bit dreary
a bit of
rathera bit of a dope
a considerable amountthat must take quite a bit of courage
a bit of all right, a bit of crumpet, a bit of stuffora bit of tailBritishslanga sexually attractive woman
bit by bitgradually
bit on the sideinformalan extramarital affair
do one's bitto make one's expected contribution
every bit(foll by as)to the same degreeshe was every bit as clever as her brother
not a bitornot a bit of itnot in the slightest; not at all
to bitscompletely apartto fall to bits
Word Origin for bit
Old English bite action of biting; see bite
bit
2
noun
a metal mouthpiece, for controlling a horse on a bridle
anything that restrains or curbs
take the bit in one's teeth, take the bit between one's teeth, have the bit in one's teethorhave the bit between one's teeth
to undertake a task with determination
to rebel against control
a cutting or drilling tool, part, or head in a brace, drill, etc
the blade of a woodworking plane
the part of a pair of pincers designed to grasp an object
the copper end of a soldering iron
the part of a key that engages the levers of a lock
verbbits, bittingorbitted(tr)
to put a bit in the mouth of (a horse)
to restrain; curb
Word Origin for bit
Old English bita; related to Old English bītan to bite
bit
3
verb
the past tense and (archaic) past participle of bite
bit
4
nounmathscomputing
a single digit of binary notation, represented either by 0 or by 1
the smallest unit of information, indicating the presence or absence of a single feature
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
"small piece," c.1200; related Old English bite "act of biting," and bita "piece bitten off," probably are the source of the modern words meaning "boring-piece of a drill" (1590s), "mouthpiece of a horse's bridle" (mid-14c.), and "a piece bitten off, morsel" (c.1000). All from Proto-Germanic *biton (cf. Old Saxon biti, Old Norse bit, Old Frisian bite, Middle Dutch bete, Old High German bizzo "biting," German Bissen "a bite, morsel"), from PIE root *bheid- "to split" (see fissure).
Meaning "small piece, fragment" is from c.1600. Sense of "short space of time" is 1650s. Theatrical bit part is from 1909. Money sense in two bits, etc. is originally from Southern U.S. and West Indies, in reference to silver wedges cut or stamped from Spanish dollars (later Mexican reals); transferred to "eighth of a dollar."
bit
n.2
computerese word, 1948 abbreviation coined by U.S. computer pioneer John W. Tukey (1915-2000) of binary digit, probably chosen for its identity with bit (n.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. See Note at byte.
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.
Note
The information in a digital computer is stored in the form of bits.
