kit

¹

[kit]

noun

1. a set or collection of tools, supplies, instructional matter, etc., for a specific purpose.

   a first-aid kit; a sales kit.

2. the case for containing these.

3. such a case and its contents.

4. a set of materials or parts from which something can be assembled.

   a model car made from a kit.

5. Informal.,  a set, lot, or collection of things or persons.

6. a wooden tub, pail, etc., usually circular.

7. Chiefly British.,  a costume or outfit of clothing, especially for a specific purpose.

   ski kit; dancing kit; battle kit.

verb (used with object)

kitted, kitting 

1. to package or make available in a kit.

   a new model airplane that has just been kitted for the hobbyist.

2. Chiefly British.,  to outfit or equip (often followed by out orup ).

kit

²

[kit]

noun

1. a violin or rebec small enough to be carried in the pocket, used by dancing masters in the 17th and 18th centuries.

kit

³

[kit]

noun

1. kitten.

2. a young fox, beaver, or other small furbearing animal.

Kit

⁴

[kit]

noun

1. a male given name, form of Christopher.

2. a female given name, form of Catherine or Katherine.

kit

¹

/ kɪt /

noun

1. a set of tools, supplies, construction materials, etc, for use together or for a purpose

   a first-aid kit

   a model aircraft kit

2. the case or container for such a set

3. 1. a set of pieces of equipment ready to be assembled

   2. ( as modifier )

      kit furniture

4. 1. clothing and other personal effects, esp those of a traveller or soldier

      safari kit

      battle kit

   2. informal,  clothing in general (esp in the phrase get one's kit off )

5. a flax basket

6. informal,  everything or everybody

kit

²

/ kɪt /

noun

1. an informal or diminutive name for kitten

2. a cub of various small mammals, such as the ferret or fox

KIT

³

abbreviation

1. keep in touch

kit

⁴

/ kɪt /

noun

1. a kind of small violin, now obsolete, used esp by dancing masters in the 17th–18th centuries

kit

⁵

/ kɪt /

noun

1. a plaited flax basket

Word History and Origins

Origin of kit¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English kit(te), kyt(t) “wooden bucket or tub,” from Middle Dutch kitte “jug, tankard”

Origin of kit²

First recorded in 1510–20; origin uncertain

Origin of kit³

First recorded in 1555–65; shortening of kitten ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of kit¹

C14: from Middle Dutch kitte tankard

Origin of kit²

C16: by shortening

Origin of kit³

C16: of unknown origin

Origin of kit⁴

from Māori kete

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. kit and caboodle / boodle, the whole lot of persons or things; all of something (often preceded bywhole ).

   We took along the whole kit and caboodle in the station wagon.

Example Sentences

They were made by creative, yes, craftsmen, architects or builders, imagining their own designs or using kit plans, sold by companies like Sears and Montgomery Ward.

From Los Angeles Times

A light goes on, and he takes off with his father’s kit and heads for Georgia, where he will become Chad Powers.

From Los Angeles Times

She stows a small knitted figurine of legendary England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson, made for her by a friend's grandmother when Aldcroft was a teenager, in her kit bag for every game.

From BBC

Ever since I was a little kid they were buying me football boots and I think I lived in football kits as a kid.

From BBC

“But our Texan founding fathers — like our American founding fathers — took prior restraints on political speech out of the tool kit when they enshrined the right to free speech in our Constitution.”

From Salon

Related Words

• apparatus 
• bag 
• container 
• gear 
• material