sit
verb (used without object)
to rest with the body supported by the buttocks or thighs; be seated.
sit
1 American
[sit]
/ sɪt /
verb (used without object)
sat,
sate,
sat,
sitten,
sitting
-
to rest with the body supported by the buttocks or thighs; be seated.
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to be located or situated.
The house sits well up on the slope.
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to rest or lie (usually followed by on orupon ).
An aura of greatness sits easily upon him.
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to place oneself in position for an artist, photographer, etc.; pose.
to sit for a portrait.
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to remain quiet or inactive.
They let the matter sit.
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(of a bird) to perch or roost.
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(of a hen) to cover eggs to hatch them; brood.
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to fit, rest, or hang, as a garment.
The jacket sits well on your shoulders.
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to occupy a place or have a seat in an official assembly or in an official capacity, as a legislator, judge, or bishop.
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to be convened or in session, as an assembly.
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to act as a baby-sitter.
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(of wind) to blow from the indicated direction.
The wind sits in the west tonight.
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to be accepted or considered in the way indicated.
Something about his looks just didn't sit right with me.
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Informal. to be acceptable to the stomach.
Something I ate for breakfast didn't sit too well.
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Chiefly British. to take a test or examination.
I’m studying now, and I plan to sit in June.
verb (used with object)
sat,
sate,
sat,
sitten,
sitting
-
to cause to sit; seat (often followed bydown ).
Sit yourself down. He sat me near him.
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to sit astride or keep one's seat on (a horse or other animal).
She sits her horse gracefully.
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to provide seating accommodations or seating room for; seat.
Our dining-room table only sits six people.
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Informal. to serve as baby-sitter for.
A neighbor can sit the children while you go out.
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Chiefly British. to take (a test or examination).
She finally received permission to sit the exam at a later date.
verb phrase
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sit out
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to stay to the end of.
Though bored, we sat out the play.
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to surpass in endurance.
He sat out his tormentors.
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to keep one's seat during (a dance, competition, etc.); fail to participate in.
We sat out all the Latin-American numbers.
-
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sit in on to be a spectator, observer, or visitor at.
to sit in on classes.
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sit on / upon
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sit in
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to attend or take part as a visitor or temporary participant.
to sit in at a bridge game; to sit in for the band's regular pianist.
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to take part in a sit-in.
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sit up
-
to rise from a supine to a sitting position.
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to delay the hour of retiring beyond the usual time.
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to sit upright; hold oneself erect.
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Informal. to become interested or astonished.
We all sat up when the holiday was announced.
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sit down
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to take a seat.
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to descend to a sitting position; alight.
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to take up a position, as to encamp or besiege.
The military forces sat down at the approaches to the city.
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idioms
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sit tight, to bide one's time; take no action.
I'm going to sit tight till I hear from you.
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sit on one's hands,
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to fail to applaud.
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to fail to take appropriate action.
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sit pretty, to be in a comfortable situation.
He's been sitting pretty ever since he got that new job.
sit
2
American
[sit]
/ sɪt /
verb
sit
1
British
/ sɪt /
verb
-
(also tr; when intr, often foll by down, in, or on) to adopt or rest in a posture in which the body is supported on the buttocks and thighs and the torso is more or less upright
to sit on a chair
sit a horse
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(tr) to cause to adopt such a posture
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(of an animal) to adopt or rest in a posture with the hindquarters lowered to the ground
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(of a bird) to perch or roost
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(of a hen or other bird) to cover eggs to hatch them; brood
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to be situated or located
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(of the wind) to blow from the direction specified
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to adopt and maintain a posture for one's portrait to be painted, etc
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to occupy or be entitled to a seat in some official capacity, as a judge, elected representative, etc
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(of a deliberative body) to be convened or in session
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to remain inactive or unused
his car sat in the garage for a year
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to rest or lie as specified
the nut was sitting so awkwardly that he couldn't turn it
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(of a garment) to fit or hang as specified
that dress sits well on you
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to weigh, rest, or lie as specified
greatness sits easily on him
-
(tr) to take (an examination)
he's sitting his bar finals
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(usually foll by for) to be a candidate (for a qualification)
he's sitting for a BA
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(intr; in combination) to look after a specified person or thing for someone else
granny-sit
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(tr) to have seating capacity for
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informal well placed or established financially, socially, etc
-
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to wait patiently; bide one's time
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to maintain one's position, stand, or opinion firmly
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SIT
2
British
abbreviation
sit
More Idioms
Commonly Confused
See set.
Etymology
Origin of sit1
First recorded before 900; Middle English sitten, Old English sittan; cognate with Dutch zitten, German sitzen, Old Norse sitja; akin to Gothic sitan, Latin sedēre, Greek hézesthai (base hed- ); cf. set, sedate, cathedra, nest
Origin of sit2
From Latin
Explanation
Sit down! When you sit, you rest your weight on your bottom instead of standing on your feet. You can sit in a chair, sit on the floor, or sit in a giant bowl of chocolate pudding if you want to. When you tell a good dog to sit, she lowers her hindquarters to the floor, with her back legs bent. But when you sit ten people at your little kitchen table, you provide seats for them, and when you sit for an artist, you pose while she paints or draws your portrait. Objects sit by simply not moving: "The cars sit, stuck in rush hour traffic, while the subway speeds past."
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:
Devices can sit undetected on a payment terminal for a year, said Vincent Porter, a Secret Service financial analyst, noting a single skimmer can compromise thousands of cards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
Four games into their 10th consecutive Premier League campaign, they sit fifth.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
I’ll bring my book and sit there and read.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
That means that, for almost all of you, the appropriate reaction to this week’s Fed’s rate hike decision is to sit on your hands.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
A guy and a girl sit squashed next to each other on its bench, laughing as they bang on it, pretending like they know what they’re doing.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Further investigation by the SIT has revealed pilferage also from the pedestals and door frames and the court says that approximately 4.54kg gold has gone missing since 2019.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2025
After remaining missing for several weeks, Mr Revanna had released a video on 27 May in which he said that he would appear before the SIT on Friday.
From BBC ● May 31, 2024
In recent years, the field of sports physiology has witnessed increased interest in optimizing SIT protocols.
From Science Daily ● May 15, 2024
“Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2023
“Alex Douglas, turn around and SIT DOWN,” she repeated.
From "Eleven" by Tom Rogers
Despite attending multiple after-parties that evening, Evans said they made sure to video call their parents who were sat at home in their dressing gowns.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
“He just sat there and ate it,” McKay would later testify.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
We sat down with Squeeze’s main men, singer-songwriter-guitarists Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford, during separate Zoom interviews.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
Dressed in a dark suit and white shirt with no tie, the former president sat with his chin resting on his hands as proceedings opened.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
And then, electrically, the whole church sat at attention.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Investors regard Bloom’s solid oxide fuel cell as a robust source of power to sate data centers’ endless appetite.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
It’s just enough to sate the palate until next week, when we find ourselves craving a treat once again.
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026
I always order chicken sate and the green papaya salad.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026
It seems likely that Sir Keir's rhetoric in PMQs will sate some Labour MPs for now.
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2026
That evening, a small company, consisting of Bono; my mother; the cook, Aina; and Nancy, the laundry-maid, sate by the fire in my mother’s room.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
They had not sitten but a while, Certain, without leas-ing, There came two messengers out of the north, With letters to our King.
From A Bundle of Ballads by Henry Morley
All who had sitten in any illegal high court of justice were disabled from bearing offices.
From The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part F. From Charles II. to James II. by David Hume
And so they arose and did their homage, and when they were gone Merlin found in every sieges letters of gold that told the knights' names that had sitten therein.
From Le Mort d'Arthur: Volume 1 by Sir Thomas Malory
I had sitten down by my uncle's fireside, and felt unwilling to rise.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume I Historical, Traditionary, and Imaginative by Various
Th' morning of taking our petition we had such a spread for breakfast as th' Queen hersel might ha' sitten down to.
From Mary Barton by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
Moments earlier she had been sitting on the Reform benches and had been due to speak for the party in the chamber.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
"What we found in patient samples was that intestinal cells are primed to die. Even in patients with essentially no symptoms, there's still this persistent problem sitting there."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
Michelle Fennell was sitting at her desk when her right eye started feeling heavy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
And Pappas, a sitting congressman, should be a perfectly acceptable head of hair to complete the task.
From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2026
Getting in the pool will help calm my crazy, and I’ll look like less of a dork than if I’m just sitting here waiting.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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.
