visit
Americanverb (used with object)
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to go to and stay with (a person or family) or at (a place) for a short time for reasons of sociability, politeness, business, curiosity, etc..
to visit a friend; to visit clients; to visit Paris.
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to stay with as a guest.
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to come or go to.
to visit a church for prayer.
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to go to for the purpose of official inspection or examination.
a general visiting his troops.
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to come to in order to comfort or aid.
to visit the sick.
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to come upon; assail; afflict.
The plague visited London in 1665.
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to cause trouble, suffering, etc., to come to.
to visit him with sorrows.
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to access, as a website.
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to inflict, as punishment, vengeance, etc. (often followed by on orupon ).
verb (used without object)
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to make a visit.
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to talk or chat casually.
to visit on the phone with a friend.
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to inflict punishment.
noun
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the act of or an instance of visiting.
a nice, long visit.
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a chat or talk.
We had a good visit on the way back from the grocery store.
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a call paid to a person, family, etc.
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a stay or sojourn as a guest.
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an official inspection or examination.
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the act of an officer of a belligerent nation in boarding a vessel in order to ascertain the nature of its cargo, its nationality, etc..
the right of visit and search.
verb
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to go or come to see (a person, place, etc)
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to stay with (someone) as a guest
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to go or come to (an institution, place, etc) for the purpose of inspecting or examining
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(tr) (of a disease, disaster, etc) to assail; afflict
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(tr; foll by upon or on) to inflict (punishment, etc)
the judge visited his full anger upon the defendant
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archaic to afflict or plague (with punishment, etc)
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informal (often foll by with) to chat or converse (with someone)
noun
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the act or an instance of visiting
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a stay as a guest
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a professional or official call
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a formal call for the purpose of inspection or examination
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international law the right of an officer of a belligerent state to stop and search neutral ships in war to verify their nationality and ascertain whether they carry contraband
the right of visit and search
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informal a friendly talk or chat
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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previsitnoun
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revisitverb
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intervisitverb (used without object)
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nonvisitingadjective
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unvisitedadjective
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unvisitingadjective
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visitableadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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visitsimple
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visitssimple
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have visitedperfect
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has visitedperfect
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am visitingprogressive
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are visitingprogressive
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is visitingprogressive
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have been visitingperfect progressive
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has been visitingperfect progressive
Past
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visitedsimple
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had visitedperfect
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was visitingprogressive
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were visitingprogressive
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had been visitingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of visit
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English visiten (verb), from Old French visiter, from Latin vīsitāre “to see repeatedly,” from vīsere “to go to see,” from vidēre “to see”; noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
When you travel to another place, or spend some time at a friend's house, it's a visit. You should visit your grandmother! It's been a while since she's had a visit from you. Whenever you spend a temporary amount of time with another person or in another place, that's a visit — whether it's your visit to San Francisco or your visit to the doctor for a checkup. In some parts of the U.S., visit is also a name for a chat: "I had a nice visit with your Aunt Sylvia yesterday." And if you pay a visit to someone, you go see them for a while.
Vocabulary lists containing visit
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:
Joe Biden had called him a pal during a 2022 visit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Pitcher Edgardo Henriquez did not join the team for the White House visit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
In the report they published following their visit, they highlighted damage to turtle nesting sites, bird habitats and the local dunes.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
For support and information on the issues raised in this article, visit BBC Action Line.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
He did, however, accept an invitation to come to visit us.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Researchers found there were 46,000 fewer customer visits among formal businesses within half a mile of the nine sites and an estimated $3.16 million in accumulated revenue losses during the two weeks after enforcement activity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
But if he visits an Orthodox synagogue this Shabbat, he can still see quite a few examples of his favored headgear —just the standard-issue black ones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
The estimate includes Medicare premiums, out-of-pocket prescription-drug costs and other medical expenses such as copayments, coinsurance and deductibles for doctor and hospital visits.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
In an effort to manage unauthorised visits and help fund clean-up operations, it introduced a £2 charge as "a temporary deterrent".
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Often I would see children there, ones I recognized from my rare visits to school.
From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate
But we can wholeheartedly recommend this dispatch from Slate’s Alexander Sammon, who visited his local Taco Bell to eat chalupas with the brave Americans who aren’t letting the risk of a parasite ruin their appetite.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026
Health Minister JP Nadda, who had visited the activist at the hospital on Tuesday night, said he had also requested him to break his fast.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
“Some but not all of them visited an area with a known measles outbreak.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
After studying terrestrial wildlife, he visited coastal fishing communities in 2018 and encountered what scientists describe as one of the world's least-known conservation crises.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
“So I know which two or three could be visited in the same afternoon. But there are still a lot of names.”
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Ryana MacDonald-Gay took 4-17 as Super Giants bowled out Spirit with nine balls to spare at Lord's, before the visiting batters completed their chase for the loss of just three wickets.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
"You leave the hotel at 8.30... it feels as if it was noontime. And as the day progresses, it just gets hotter and hotter and hotter," said Yesenia Gueta, 47, visiting from Los Angeles.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
The road’s opening resulted in a near doubling of total cars visiting the park in just one year, park staff said in an Instagram post.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Heads of state visiting the U.S. are under protection of the Secret Service.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
“My family was away visiting my grandparents this whole week,” Adam said.
From "A Monster of a Mystery (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #5)" by Franklin W. Dixon
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.
