quit
1 Americanverb (used with object)
-
to stop, cease, or discontinue.
She quit what she was doing to help me paint the house.
- Antonyms:
- start
-
to depart from; leave (a place or person).
They quit the city for the seashore every summer.
- Antonyms:
- enter
-
to give up or resign; let go; relinquish: She quit her job.
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)
-
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
noun
verb
-
(tr) to depart from; leave
he 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 them
they received notice to quit
-
to desist or cease from (something or doing something); break off
quit laughing
-
(tr) to pay off (a debt); discharge or settle
-
archaic (tr) to conduct or acquit (oneself); comport (oneself)
he quits himself with great dignity
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of quit1
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English verb qui(t)ten “to pay, acquit oneself,” from Old French quit(t)er, from Medieval Latin quittāre, quiētāre “to release, discharge,” Late Latin quiētare “to put to rest, quiet; ” see also quite ( def. )
Origin of quit2
First recorded in 1845–50; originally Jamaican English, of uncertain origin
Explanation
To quit means to stop doing something. You might quit a lousy job or quit eating dessert. The verb quit can also mean to leave a place or depart from a location. This meaning isn't used as frequently in conversation now as it used to be, but you can still use it to mean leaving somewhere. For example, if you choose to move from sunny California to Maine because you think you'll like the seasons better, you could say you plan to quit California for a colder climate.
Vocabulary lists containing quit
Scrabble: Words that Begin with Q
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Workshop 3, Part 1
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The Search Is Over: Synonyms for "Stop"
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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:
“I mean, there’s no quit, there’s no surrender,” Harbaugh said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
Her commitment to finishing the job has been in question for more than a year, fueled in part by her own acknowledgments that she could quit early.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
The Times said Kurtz also urged a Democrat to quit the race after the August primary, opening a place on the four-candidate ranked-choice ballot for Republican Gerald Heikes, also a recruit.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
“That has now proliferated into a myth that won’t quit, yet it isn’t actually helpful in today’s algorithms, as airlines price in real-time based on inventory.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
Maybe I shouldn’t have quit so many of the activities I tried in the past.
From "Zara’s Rules for Record-Breaking Fun" by Hena Khan
It’s also interesting since a source alerted me to the fact that Rocket’s first commit happened just after Sequoia quitted of their CoreOS shares and board seat.
From Forbes ● Dec. 3, 2014
Even by 1782, as an admiring French visitor observed, Jefferson, "without having quitted his own country," had become "an American who...is a musician, draftsman, astronomer, natural philosopher, jurist and a statesman."
From Time Magazine Archive
Impersonating not only the Prince but the entire Royal Family, they quitted the station and seated themselves in two wagons representing the imperial landaus.
From Time Magazine Archive
After a sumptuous banquet in his honor he quitted Hungary last week.
From Time Magazine Archive
When the gloves were bought, and they had quitted the shop again, “Did you ever hear the young lady we were speaking of, play?” said Frank Churchill.
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
Speaking at the end of a regular ECB monetary policy press conference Thursday, Lagarde said she was quitting so that she could intervene in politics.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
Alison Green, the advice maven behind Ask a Manager, explores what makes some employees so resistant to quitting a toxic job.
From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026
Councillor Matt Relf, executive lead member for growth, regeneration and local planning, said quitting the party was an "enormously upsetting" decision.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
Nurses are in high demand—and they’re quitting in droves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
“You’re not thinking about quitting again, are you?” asked Akimi.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
