quit

[kwit]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR quit ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), quit or quit·ted, quit·ting.

to stop, cease, or discontinue: She quit what she was doing to help me paint the house.

to depart from; leave (a place or person): They quit the city for the seashore every summer.

to give up or resign; let go; relinquish: He quit his claim to the throne. She quit her job.

to release one's hold of (something grasped).

to acquit or conduct (oneself).

to free or rid (oneself): to quit oneself of doubts.

to clear (a debt); repay.

verb (used without object), quit or quit·ted, quit·ting.

to cease from doing something; stop.

to give up or resign one's job or position: He keeps threatening to quit.

to depart or leave.

to stop trying, struggling, or the like; accept or acknowledge defeat.

adjective

released from obligation, penalty, etc.; free, clear, or rid (usually followed by of): quit of all further responsibilities.

Origin of quit

1175–1225; (adj.) Middle English quit(te) exempt, freed, acquitted of (< Old French quite) < Medieval Latin quittus, by-form of quītus (≫ Middle English quit(e); see quite), for Latin quiētus quiet¹; (v.) Middle English quit(t)en to pay, acquit oneself < Old French quit(t)er < Medieval Latin quittāre, quiētāre to release, discharge, Late Latin quiētare to put to rest, quiet¹

Related formsquit·ta·ble, adjectiveun·quit·ted, adjective

Can be confusedquiet quit quite

Synonyms for quit

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR quit ON THESAURUS.COM

3. surrender, release. 12. acquitted, discharged.

Antonyms for quit

1, 8. start. 2. enter.

quit

[kwit]

noun

any of various small tropical birds.

Origin of quit

1845–50; orig. Jamaican English, of uncertain origin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for quit

relinquish, surrender, depart, renounce, retire, go, withdraw, vacate, drop, suspend, halt, conclude, discontinue, terminate, leave, cease, abandon, blow, evacuate, abdicate

Examples from the Web for quit

Contemporary Examples of quit

Park employees helped John quit tobacco by way of a butts-proof glass enclosure, a drastic change in diet, and regular exercise.
Zebra Finches, Dolphins, Elephants, and More Animals Under the Influence
Bill Schulz
December 31, 2014
But they had not quit and here they now were as the Emerald Society Pipes and Drums came into the Garden.
Cop Families Boo De Blasio at NYPD Graduation
Michael Daly
December 30, 2014
On Tuesday, two senior Kremlin officials, Vladimir Avdeyenko and Boris Rapoport, quit their jobs.
Recession? Devaluation? Inflation? Putin Tells Russia Stay the Course.
Anna Nemtsova
December 4, 2014
His breath became so strained that he was forced to quit his job as a horticulturalist for the parks department.
Before Eric Garner, There Was Michael Stewart: The Tragic Story of the Real-Life Radio Raheem
Marlow Stern
December 4, 2014
Although she loved her job teaching five-year-olds, she recently quit.
From Church of Christ to Pansexual Rapper
Tyler Gillespie
November 28, 2014

Historical Examples of quit

He doesn't look a bit healthy and hasn't since he quit eating breakfast.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Say, I don't expect to quit cussin' him fur another thirty days yet.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
And then Antonio offers to "quit the fine for one-half his goods."
The Man Shakespeare
Frank Harris
When I discovered that I was unfit to hold that trust any longer, I quit.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
It was either stay and keep on working, with that chance, or—quit.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart

British Dictionary definitions for quit

quit

verb quits or quitting or quitted or mainly US quit

(tr) to depart from; leavehe quitted the place hastily

to resign; give up (a job)he quitted his job today

(intr) (of a tenant) to give up occupancy of premises and leave themthey received notice to quit

to desist or cease from (something or doing something); break offquit laughing

(tr) to pay off (a debt); discharge or settle

(tr) archaic to conduct or acquit (oneself); comport (oneself)he quits himself with great dignity

adjective

(usually predicative foll by of) free (from); released (from)he was quit of all responsibility for their safety

Word Origin for quit

C13: from Old French quitter, from Latin quiētus quiet; see quietus

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 quit

adj.

c.1200, "free, clear" (of debt, etc.), from Old French quite, quitte "free, clear, entire, at liberty; discharged; unmarried," from Medieval Latin quitus, quittus, from Latin quietus "free" (in Medieval Latin "free from war, debts, etc."), also "calm, resting" (see quiet (adj.)).

c.1200, "to repay, discharge" (a debt, etc.), from Old French quiter "clear, establish one's innocence;" also transitive, "release, let go, relinquish, abandon" (12c.), from quite (see quit (adj.)).

Meaning "to reward, give reward" is mid-13c., that of "take revenge; to answer, retort" and "to acquit oneself" are late 14c. From c.1300 as "to acquit (of a charge), declare not guilty." Sense of "leave, depart" is attested from c.1400; that of "stop" (doing something) is from 1640s. Meaning "to give up, relinquish" is from mid-15c. Related: Quitted; quitting. Quitting time is from 1835.

Idioms and Phrases with quit

quit

In addition to the idiom beginning with quit

quite a bit
quit while one's ahead

also see:

call it quits