mitt
mitt
1 American
[mit]
/ mɪt /
noun
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mitts
plural
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Baseball.
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a rounded glove with one internal section for the four fingers and another for the thumb and having the side next to the palm of the hand protected by a thick padding, used by catchers.
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a somewhat similar glove but with less padding and having sections for the thumb and one or two fingers, used by first basemen.
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a mitten.
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Slang. a hand.
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a glove that leaves the lower ends of the fingers bare, especially a long one made of lace or other fancy material and worn by women.
mitt.
2
American
abbreviation
mitt
British
/ mɪt /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mitt1
First recorded in 1755–65; short for mitten
Origin of mitt.2
From the Latin word mitte
Explanation
If you want to play on a baseball team, get a mitt, a protective leather glove. And if you want to take a cake out of the oven, get an oven mitt, a giant heat-proof mitten. A mitt protects a hand. Since mitts were introduced to baseball in the 19th century, every player on a team uses one. Before that, players used their bare hands — or they improvised gloves with the fingers cut off, to slightly pad the catching hand. Today's mitts are wide and sturdy. An oven mitt isn’t helpful in baseball, but it also protects hands. In fact, mitt can also mean "hand" informally: "Get your mitts off my chocolate cupcake!"
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Ohtani clipped Braves catcher Drake Baldwin’s mitt and was awarded first base for catcher’s interference.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
At the end of the video, Barrymore let her hair down and snapped a selfie against one of the walls in the RV, on which an oven mitt could be seen hanging from a hook.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
I'm staying in shape and enjoying some mitt work.
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
He now keeps a catcher’s mitt on his desk—in Dick’s green.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026
It looked like a maroon catcher’s mitt folded in on itself.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
“Maybe if you explain everything, Coach Quinn will let you guys play, but I still won’t have my mitt. I can’t play without it.”
From "The Missing Mitt (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #2)" by Franklin W. Dixon
“Someone stole my lucky mitt. I can’t play without it!”
From "The Missing Mitt (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #2)" by Franklin W. Dixon
“You’ve held Great-Grampy JonJon’s mitt. Now we’re here to see his brother.”
From "Fast Pitch" by Nic Stone
“And we all want to win this game. I can’t think of any reason someone else would have stolen the mitt. Can you?”
From "The Missing Mitt (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #2)" by Franklin W. Dixon
“Now, Jason, I’m sure no one stole your mitt. It’s probably just lost in the pile of gear here.”
From "The Missing Mitt (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #2)" by Franklin W. Dixon
Brown’s cobwebbed mitts are gone and QB Jalen Hurts is spreading the gospel of a “shared mission.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Plus, gloves, helmets, elbow guards, leg protectors, arm sleeves, sliding mitts, cleats, turf shoes, the coolest sunglasses, Bruce Bolt batting gloves, fluorescent batting grips, socks, pants, belts and garments known simply as “ice-cream shorts.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026
It was a three-point game and Scotland had the ball in their mitts in the 79th minute as they looked to see it out.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2025
Most catchers replaced the laces on their mitts every six months.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2025
“Funny that,” Grace said, patting one of the oven mitts in the shape of a chicken.
From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
