quit

[ kwit ]

/ kwɪt /

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.

Nearby words

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

SYNONYMS FOR quit

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

ANTONYMS FOR quit

1, 8. start. 2. enter.

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

Can be confusedquiet quit quite

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

Examples from the Web for quitted

But the state of things, if not less anxious, was less distressing than when Jem had quitted her.
Mary Barton|Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
I would have avoided this interview, could I have quitted England again without some information respecting them.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various
The room itself was larger than the one he had just quitted, and not as well lit.
Viewpoint|Gordon Randall Garrett
Of matters in which he had been specially interested before he quitted London, one or two may properly be named.
The Life of Charles Dickens, Vol. I-III, Complete|John Forster

He imagines that Mr. Capella quitted the train on the way, and will arrive by this one.
The Stowmarket Mystery|Louis Tracy

British Dictionary definitions for quitted

quit

/ (kwɪt) /

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 quitted

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.)).

quit

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 quitted

quit

In addition to the idiom beginning with quit

quite a bit
quit while one's ahead

also see:

call it quits

quit

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

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

adjective

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Nearby words

Origin of quit

Examples from the Web for quitted

quit

verb quits or quitting or quitted or mainly US quit

adjective

Word Origin for quit

quit

quit

quit