to rest with the body supported by the buttocks or thighs; be seated.
to be located or situated.
The house sits well up on the slope.
to rest or lie (usually followed by on orupon ).
An aura of greatness sits easily upon him.
to place oneself in position for an artist, photographer, etc.; pose.
to sit for a portrait.
to remain quiet or inactive.
They let the matter sit.
(of a bird) to perch or roost.
(of a hen) to cover eggs to hatch them; brood.
to fit, rest, or hang, as a garment.
The jacket sits well on your shoulders.
to occupy a place or have a seat in an official assembly or in an official capacity, as a legislator, judge, or bishop.
to be convened or in session, as an assembly.
to act as a baby-sitter.
(of wind) to blow from the indicated direction.
The wind sits in the west tonight.
to be accepted or considered in the way indicated.
Something about his looks just didn't sit right with me.
Informal. to be acceptable to the stomach.
Something I ate for breakfast didn't sit too well.
Chiefly British. to take a test or examination.
I’m studying now, and I plan to sit in June.
to cause to sit; seat (often followed bydown ).
Sit yourself down. He sat me near him.
to sit astride or keep one's seat on (a horse or other animal).
She sits her horse gracefully.
to provide seating accommodations or seating room for; seat.
Our dining-room table only sits six people.
Informal. to serve as baby-sitter for.
A neighbor can sit the children while you go out.
Chiefly British. to take (a test or examination).
She finally received permission to sit the exam at a later date.
sit out
to stay to the end of.
Though bored, we sat out the play.
to surpass in endurance.
He sat out his tormentors.
to keep one's seat during (a dance, competition, etc.); fail to participate in.
We sat out all the Latin-American numbers.
sit in on to be a spectator, observer, or visitor at.
to sit in on classes.
sit on / upon
sit in
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.
to take part in a sit-in.
sit up
to rise from a supine to a sitting position.
to delay the hour of retiring beyond the usual time.
to sit upright; hold oneself erect.
Informal. to become interested or astonished.
We all sat up when the holiday was announced.
sit down
to take a seat.
to descend to a sitting position; alight.
to take up a position, as to encamp or besiege.
The military forces sat down at the approaches to the city.
sit tight, to bide one's time; take no action.
I'm going to sit tight till I hear from you.
sit on one's hands,
to fail to applaud.
to fail to take appropriate action.
sit pretty, to be in a comfortable situation.
He's been sitting pretty ever since he got that new job.
(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
(tr) to cause to adopt such a posture
(of an animal) to adopt or rest in a posture with the hindquarters lowered to the ground
(of a bird) to perch or roost
(of a hen or other bird) to cover eggs to hatch them; brood
to be situated or located
(of the wind) to blow from the direction specified
to adopt and maintain a posture for one's portrait to be painted, etc
to occupy or be entitled to a seat in some official capacity, as a judge, elected representative, etc
(of a deliberative body) to be convened or in session
to remain inactive or unused
his car sat in the garage for a year
to rest or lie as specified
the nut was sitting so awkwardly that he couldn't turn it
(of a garment) to fit or hang as specified
that dress sits well on you
to weigh, rest, or lie as specified
greatness sits easily on him
(tr) to take (an examination)
he's sitting his bar finals
(usually foll by for) to be a candidate (for a qualification)
he's sitting for a BA
(intr; in combination) to look after a specified person or thing for someone else
granny-sit
(tr) to have seating capacity for
informal well placed or established financially, socially, etc
to wait patiently; bide one's time
to maintain one's position, stand, or opinion firmly
See set.
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
From Latin
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."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Wapner and Hagman sit on the Ontario International Airport Authority, with the council member acting as its president, records show.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
The same highflying tech and AI names leading this market are the most rate-sensitive, because their profits sit far off in the future.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
For a time after his death, Hwang returned daily to leave a cup of coffee "at the cramped table where he never got to sit".
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
It has not been uncommon for the goalkeeper to sit on the turf and signal for the physio, with all the other players rushing to the technical area for a team talk.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
He grabs my hand and squeezes it, and we sit in silence for a minute or ten, remembering.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Following an interim report from the SIT, Ayodhya police registered a case of alleged embezzlement, naming eight people.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Following criticism, the Uttar Pradesh government set up the three-member SIT which submitted an interim report on Tuesday and sought more time to complete the inquiry.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
How the durations of exercise and rest are structured can affect the impact of SIT on physiological responses.
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
An empty steel canister sat on a cleared drill pad, waiting to go down a second hole this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
A jury convicted him of a misdemeanor anyway, on the theory that a single six-pack sat in plain view, and a judge gave him the statutory minimum: a $1,500 fine and three days in jail.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
The burgeoning young composer organized Bernstein’s music archives, sat in on recording sessions and audited his senior-level classes for three years while studying at the Thornton School of Music at USC.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Susie Matthews said she never wanted to find herself sat in a chair thinking "I wished I'd have done this and wished I'd have done that"
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
How could we have guessed as we sat there—two middle-aged spinsters and an old man— that in place of memories were about to be given adventures such as we had never dreamed of?
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
That led him to the petroleum industry, where working on oil rigs in the punishing North Sea and near conflict zones helped sate his risk appetite.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 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
Dr. Trefusis did not note their absence, but as Bono sate himself down beside us, greeted him.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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 Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn
Baith yerl an' leddy startit up: 'at they sud hae sitten doon till a meal ohn even adverteest their veesitor that sic was their purpose!
From Malcolm by MacDonald, George
Ine sumer ȝe habbeð leaue uorto gon and sitten baruot. and hosen wið uten uaumpez . and ligge ine ham : hwo so likeð.
From Selections from early Middle English, 1130-1250 Part I: Texts by Hall, Joseph
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
And when they were gone Merlin found in every siege letters of gold that told the knights' names that had sitten therein.
From Song and Legend from the Middle Ages by MacClintock, Porter Lander
Netanyahu and his wife, sitting in the audience, nodded along.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
After a June raid at Home Depot in Hollywood, body camera footage captured an agent saying: “There was a guy, I’m pretty sure he’s wet he was just sitting in that minivan.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Even so, it will remain warm with temperatures still well above average, sitting in the mid- to high 20s Celsius into the weekend.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Daily retail net buying of single stocks remains at its lowest level since 2020, according to Vanda Research, with the 21-day average sitting well below recent norms.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
To his relief, it contained no dead cub: The cub was sitting by its mother, prodding her stinking carcass with one paw.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
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.
