quit1
- 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.
- 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.
- released from obligation, penalty, etc.; free, clear, or rid (usually followed by of): quit of all further responsibilities.
Origin of quit1
Synonyms
See more synonyms for quit on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
quit2
- any of various small tropical birds.
Origin of quit2
Examples from the Web for quit
Contemporary Examples
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 InfluenceBill 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.
On Tuesday, two senior Kremlin officials, Vladimir Avdeyenko and Boris Rapoport, quit their jobs.
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 RaheemMarlow Stern
December 4, 2014
Although she loved her job teaching five-year-olds, she recently quit.
Historical Examples
He doesn't look a bit healthy and hasn't since he quit eating breakfast.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
Say, I don't expect to quit cussin' him fur another thirty days yet.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
And then Antonio offers to "quit the fine for one-half his goods."
The Man ShakespeareFrank Harris
When I discovered that I was unfit to hold that trust any longer, I quit.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
It was either stay and keep on working, with that chance, or—quit.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
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
- (usually predicative foll by of) free (from); released (from)he was quit of all responsibility for their safety
Word Origin
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.)).
v.
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