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suit

[soot]
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noun
  1. a set of clothing, armor, or the like, intended for wear together.
  2. a set of men's garments of the same color and fabric, consisting of trousers, a jacket, and sometimes a vest.
  3. a similarly matched set consisting of a skirt and jacket, and sometimes a topcoat or blouse, worn by women.
  4. any costume worn for some special activity: a running suit.
  5. Often suits. Slang. an executive, manager, or official, especially one regarded as a faceless decision maker.
  6. Law. the act, the process, or an instance of suing in a court of law; legal prosecution; lawsuit.
  7. Cards.
    1. one of the four sets or classes (spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs) into which a common deck of playing cards is divided.
    2. the aggregate of cards belonging to one of these sets held in a player's hand at one time: Spades were his long suit.
    3. one of various sets or classes into which less common decks of cards are divided, as lances, hammers, etc., found in certain decks formerly used or used in fortune telling.
  8. suite(defs 1–3, 5).
  9. the wooing or courting of a woman: She rejected his suit.
  10. the act of making a petition or an appeal.
  11. a petition, as to a person of rank or station.
  12. Also called set. Nautical. a complete group of sails for a boat.
  13. one of the seven classes into which a standard set of 28 dominoes may be divided by matching the numbers on half the face of each: a three suit contains the 3-blank, 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, 3-5, and 3-6. Since each such suit contains one of each of the other possible suits, only one complete suit is available per game.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to make appropriate, adapt, or accommodate, as one thing to another: to suit the punishment to the crime.
  2. to be appropriate or becoming to: Blue suits you very well.
  3. to be or prove satisfactory, agreeable, or acceptable to; satisfy or please: The arrangements suit me.
  4. to provide with a suit, as of clothing or armor; clothe; array.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to be appropriate or suitable; accord.
  2. to be satisfactory, agreeable, or acceptable.
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Verb Phrases
  1. suit up, to dress in a uniform or special suit.
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Idioms
  1. follow suit,
    1. Cards.to play a card of the same suit as that led.
    2. to follow the example of another: The girl jumped over the fence, and her playmates followed suit.
  2. suit oneself, to do what one wants to do or what is best for oneself, without regard for others (often used imperatively): I don’t agree with you, but okay, suit yourself.
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Origin of suit

1250–1300; Middle English siute, sute, suite (noun) < Anglo-French, Old French, akin to sivre to follow. See sue, suite
Related formssuit·like, adjectivecoun·ter·suit, nounre·suit, noun, verb (used with object)un·der·suit, nounun·der·suit, verb (used with object)
Can be confusedsuit suite
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for follow suit

suit

noun
  1. any set of clothes of the same or similar material designed to be worn together, now usually (for men) a jacket with matching trousers or (for women) a jacket with matching or contrasting skirt or trousers
  2. (in combination) any outfit worn for a specific purposea spacesuit
  3. any set of items, such as the full complement of sails of a vessel or parts of personal armour
  4. any of the four sets of 13 cards in a pack of playing cards, being spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs. The cards in each suit are two to ten, jack, queen, and king in the usual order of ascending value, with ace counting as either the highest or lowest according to the game
  5. a civil proceeding; lawsuit
  6. the act or process of suing in a court of law
  7. a petition or appeal made to a person of superior rank or status or the act of making such a petition
  8. slang a business executive or white-collar manager
  9. a man's courting of a woman
  10. follow suit
    1. to play a card of the same suit as the card played immediately before it
    2. to act in the same way as someone else
  11. strong suit or strongest suit something that one excels in
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verb
  1. to make or be fit or appropriate forthat dress suits you
  2. to meet the requirements or standards (of)
  3. to be agreeable or acceptable to (someone)
  4. suit oneself to pursue one's own intentions without reference to others
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Derived Formssuitlike, adjective

Word Origin

C13: from Old French sieute set of things, from sivre to follow; compare sue
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

Word Origin and History for follow suit

suit

n.

c.1300, "attendance at court, the company attending," also their livery or uniform, via Anglo-French siwte, from Old French suitte "attendance, act of following," from Gallo-Romance *sequita, fem. of *sequitus, from Latin secutus, past participle of sequi "to attend, follow" (see sequel).

Meaning "application to a court for justice, lawsuit" is first recorded early 15c. Meaning "set of clothes to be worn together" is attested from early 15c., from notion of the livery or uniform of court attendants. As a derisive term for "businessman," it dates from 1979. Meaning "set of playing cards bearing the same symbol" is first attested 1520s, also from the notion of livery. Hence, to follow suit (1670s), which is from card playing.

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suit

v.

"be agreeable or convenient," 1570s, from suit (n.), probably from the notion of "provide with a set of new clothes."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with follow suit

follow suit

Imitate or do as someone else has done, as in Bill decided to leave for the rest of the day, and Mary followed suit. This term comes from card games in which one must play a card from the same suit as the one led. [Mid-1800s]

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suit

In addition to the idioms beginning with suit

  • suit down to the ground
  • suit oneself
  • suit up

also see:

  • birthday suit
  • empty suit
  • follow suit
  • long suit
  • strong point (suit)
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.