fix

[ fiks ]

/ fɪks /

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See synonyms for: fix / fixed / fixing / fixable on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), fixed or (Archaic) fixt

[fikst], /fɪkst/, fix·ing.

to repair; mend.

to put in order or in good condition; adjust or arrange: She fixed her hair in a bun.

to make fast, firm, or stable.

to place definitely and more or less permanently: to fix a circus poster to a wall.

to settle definitely; determine: to fix a price.

to direct (the eyes, the attention, etc.) steadily: His eyes were fixed on the distant ship.

to attract and hold (the eye, the attention, etc.).

to make set or rigid.

to put into permanent form.

to put or place (responsibility, blame, etc.) on a person.

to assign or refer to a definite place, time, etc.

to provide or supply with (something needed or wanted): How are you fixed for money?

Informal. to arrange or influence the outcome or action of, especially privately or dishonestly: to fix a jury; to fix a game.

to get (a meal); prepare (food): What time shall I fix supper?

Informal. to put in a condition or position to make no further trouble.

Informal. to get even with; get revenge upon: I'll fix him!

Informal. to castrate or spay (an animal, especially a pet).

Chemistry.

to make stable in consistency or condition; reduce from fluidity or volatility to a more stable state.
to convert atmospheric nitrogen into a useful compound, as a nitrate fertilizer.

Photography. to render (an image) permanent by removing light-sensitive silver halides.

Microscopy. to kill, make rigid, and preserve for microscopic study.

verb (used without object), fixed or fixt, fix·ing.

to become fixed.

to become set; assume a rigid or solid form.

to become stable or permanent.

to settle down.

Slang. to inject oneself with a narcotic.

Chiefly Southern U.S. to prepare; plan (usually followed by an infinitive): I was just fixing to call you. We're fixing to go to Colorado this summer.

noun

Informal. a position from which it is difficult to escape; predicament.

Informal. a repair, adjustment, or solution, usually of an immediate nature: Can you think of a fix for the problem?

Navigation.

a charted position of a vessel or aircraft, determined by two or more bearings taken on landmarks, heavenly bod-ies, etc.
the determining of the position of a ship, plane, etc., by mathematical, electronic, or other means: The navigator took a fix on the sun and steered the ship due north.

a clear determination: Can you get a fix on what he really means?

Slang.

an injection of heroin or other narcotic.
the narcotic or amount of narcotic injected.
a compulsively sought dose or infusion of something: to need one's daily fix of soap operas on TV.

Slang.

an underhand or illegal arrangement, especially one secured through bribery or influence.
a contest, situation, etc., whose outcome is prearranged dishonestly.

Verb Phrases

fix on / upon to decide on; determine: We won't be able to fix on a location for the banquet until we know the number of guests.

fix up, Informal.

to arrange for: to fix up a date.
to provide with; furnish.
to repair; renew.
to smooth over; solve: They weren't able to fix up their differences.

OTHER WORDS FOR fix

1 correct, amend.

3, 4 fasten, secure, stabilize.

5 establish, define.

27 dilemma, plight, quandary.

See synonyms for fix on Thesaurus.com

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Idioms about fix

fix one's wagon, Informal. to exact retribution for an offense; treat someone vengefully: I'll dock his pay and that will fix his wagon.

in a fix, Older Slang. pregnant.

Origin of fix

First recorded in 1350–1400; (verb) Middle English fixen, from Middle French fixer or Medieval Latin fixāre, derivative of Latin fixus “fixed,” past participle of fīgere “to fasten”

synonym study for fix

3, 4. Fix, establish imply making firm or permanent. To fix is to fasten in position securely or to make more or less permanent against change, especially something already existing: to fix a bayonet on a gun; fix a principle in one's mind. To establish is to make firm or permanent something (usually newly) originated, created, or ordained: to establish a business, a claim to property.

usage note for fix

Fix meaning “to repair” appears to have been used first in America, but it is long established and has been used in England since the early 19th century: The engineer quickly fixed the faulty valve. The verb use is fully standard in all varieties of speech and writing, and objections to it on the grounds of style merely reflect personal prejudice, not the practice of educated speakers and writers. The noun fix meaning “repair, adjustment” is informal.
Fix ( to ) meaning “to prepare, plan (to)” is another Americanism: We're fixing to go to town. It once occurred in all the eastern coastal states, but it is now chiefly an informal spoken form in the South Midland and South.

OTHER WORDS FROM fix

fix·a·ble, adjectivefix·a·bil·i·ty, nouno·ver·fix, verbre·fix, verb (used with object), re·fixed, re·fix·ing.

un·fix·a·ble, adjective

Words nearby fix

five-star, five stones, Five Towns, five W's, Five-Year Plan, fix, fixate, fixated, fixation, fixative, fixator

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fix in a sentence

Those efforts take resources, but experts cautioned against seemingly easy fixes like requiring people to provide proof of residency or other documentation.
Don’t hate the vaccine tourists, hate the vaccine game|Jen Kirby|February 12, 2021|Vox
Maryland Democratic lawmakers are calling on the Hogan administration to make immediate and long-term fixes to the state’s “broken” unemployment system, which has been plagued with problems since the beginning of the pandemic.
Maryland Democrats recommend legislative fixes to state’s ‘broken’ unemployment system|Ovetta Wiggins|February 4, 2021|Washington Post
I spoke with Kipp Godfrey, the general manager and overseer of tens of thousands of fixes at America’s premier technical gear-mending shop, Rainy Pass Repair, about how you can maximize your ski kit’s life and efficacy for seasons to come.
How to Wash Your Ski Kit|Joe Jackson|January 30, 2021|Outside Online
She also outlined several fixes that have been made in response to feedback.
What went wrong with America’s $44 million vaccine data system?|Cat Ferguson|January 30, 2021|MIT Technology Review

New additions in the release notes include the ability to read smaller QR codes with the iPhone cameras, notifications to tell users "when the camera of your iPhone is unable to be verified as a new, genuine Apple camera," and a number of bug fixes.
iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4 hit supported devices today|Samuel Axon|January 26, 2021|Ars Technica
Further, there are maintenance crews who have to fix those drones.
Exclusive: U.S. Drone Fleet at ‘Breaking Point,’ Air Force Says|Dave Majumdar|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Her slight miscalculation of how to fix the situation leads to her driving around the gas pump.
Slow Motion Tiger Jump, a Tornado at the Rose Bowl and More Viral Videos|The Daily Beast Video|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The bill, which passed Congress without opposition, is only a temporary fix and expires in 2015.
Nazis, Sunscreen, and Sea Gull Eggs: Congress in 2014 Was Hella Productive|Ben Jacobs|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We need to “fix our schools,” even while recognizing that our efforts thus far are only works-in-progress.
Your Local School Doesn’t Have to Suck|Michael S. Roth|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And then it broke down, and the woman says, 'I'm sorry, but we have to fix the internet, so it's down for the rest of the flight.'
In Defense of Uber’s Awful Sydney Surge Pricing|Olivia Nuzzi|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To fix on any one stage in such an evolution, detach it, affirm it, is to wrest a true scripture to its destruction.
Solomon and Solomonic Literature|Moncure Daniel Conway
Look till you fix them for the rest of your days well in memory, and then say what in the devil's name you could make of them.
Checkmate|Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
First I had better fix the sequence of the munition cables, for upon them the whole attack has hung—or rather, hung fire.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
"I'd have been in a pretty fix if he had finished my house, and I had tried to move my furniture into it," he muttered.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey
Meadow Mouse was too well acquainted with old Mr. Crow to get himself into any such fix as that.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey

British Dictionary definitions for fix

fix

/ (fɪks) /

verb (mainly tr)

(also intr) to make or become firm, stable, or secure

to attach or place permanentlyfix the mirror to the wall

(often foll by up) to settle definitely; decidelet us fix a date

to hold or direct (eyes, attention, etc) steadilyhe fixed his gaze on the woman

to call to attention or rivet

to make rigidto fix one's jaw

to place or ascribeto fix the blame on someone

to mend or repair

informal to provide withhow are you fixed for supplies?

informal to influence (a person, outcome of a contest, etc) unfairly, as by bribery

slang to take revenge on; get even with, esp by killing

informal to give (someone) his just desertsthat'll fix him

informal to arrange or put in orderto fix one's hair

informal to prepareto fix a meal

dialect, or informal to spay or castrate (an animal)

US dialect, or informal to prepare oneselfI'm fixing to go out

photog to treat (a film, plate, or paper) with fixer to make permanent the image rendered visible by developer

cytology to kill, preserve, and harden (tissue, cells, etc) for subsequent microscopic study

to convert (atmospheric nitrogen) into nitrogen compounds, as in the manufacture of fertilizers or the action of bacteria in the soil
to convert (carbon dioxide) into organic compounds, esp carbohydrates, as occurs in photosynthesis in plants and some microorganisms

to reduce (a substance) to a solid or condensed state or a less volatile state

(intr) slang to inject a drug

noun

informal a predicament; dilemma

the ascertaining of the navigational position, as of a ship, by radar, observation, etc

slang an intravenous injection of a drug, esp heroin

informal an act or instance of bribery

Derived forms of fix

fixable, adjective

Word Origin for fix

C15: from Medieval Latin fixāre, from Latin fixus fixed, from Latin fīgere

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for fix

fix

[ fĭks ]

To convert inorganic carbon or nitrogen into stable, organic compounds that can be assimilated into organisms. Photosynthetic organisms such as green plants fix carbon in carbohydrates as food; certain bacteria fix nitrogen as ammonia that can be absorbed directly or through nitrification by plant roots. See more at carbon fixation nitrogen fixation.

To convert a substance, especially a gas, into solid or liquid form by chemical reactions.

To kill and preserve a tissue specimen rapidly to retain as nearly as possible the characteristics it had in the living body.

Other Idioms and Phrases with fix

fix

In addition to the idioms beginning with fix

fix someone's wagon
fix up

also see:

get a fix
get a fix on
if it ain't broke don't fix it
in a fix