tit1
- a titmouse.
- any of various other small birds.
- Archaic. a girl or young woman; hussy.
- Archaic. a small or poor horse; nag.
Origin of tit1
tit2
- a teat.
- Slang: Vulgar. a breast.
Origin of tit2
tit3
Origin of tit3
tit.
Tit.
Examples from the Web for tit
Contemporary Examples
Anyone “sucking the tit of the NRA,” he said, “can get off my train.”
And especially in the Middle East, the doubling down on tit for tat is an all-too-uncommon occurrence.
Historical Examples
And they think you are resolved to break theirs: so tit for tat, Miss.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)Samuel Richardson
To his uncomplicated nature the affair was still one of tit for tat.
FraternityJohn Galsworthy
A woman in course; that's always the case with ME, you know: but oh, Tit!
The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. TitmarshWilliam Makepeace Thackeray
The affair now had simmered down to plain temper and tit for tat.
Desert DustEdwin L. Sabin
Well, considering Harrison's qualifications, it might still not be tit for tat.
CitadelAlgirdas Jonas Budrys
tit1
- any of numerous small active Old World songbirds of the family Paridae (titmice), esp those of the genus Parus (bluetit, great tit, etc). They have a short bill and feed on insects and seeds
- any of various similar small birds
- archaic, or dialect a worthless or worn-out horse; nag
Word Origin
tit2
- slang a female breast
- a teat or nipple
- derogatory a girl or young woman
- slang a despicable or unpleasant person: often used as a term of address
Word Origin
Tit.
- Titus
Word Origin and History for tit
n.1
"breast," Old English titt (a variant of teat). But the modern slang tits (plural), attested from 1928, seems to be a recent reinvention from teat, used without awareness that it is a throwback to the original form. Titty, however, is on record from 1746 as "a dial. and nursery diminutive of teat."
n.2
1540s, "any small animal or object" (as in compound forms such as titmouse, tomtit, etc.); also used of small horses. Similar words in related senses are found in Scandinavian (cf. Icelandic tittr, Norwegian tita "a little bird"), but the connection and origin are obscure; perhaps, as OED suggests, the word is merely suggestive of something small. Used figuratively of persons after 1734, but earlier for "a girl or young woman," usually in deprecatory sense of "a hussy, minx" (1590s).