visit
Americanverb (used with object)
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visits,
present (3rd person singular)
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visited,
past participle, past
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visiting
present participle
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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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visits,
present (3rd person singular)
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visited,
past participle, past
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visiting
present participle
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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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visits
plural
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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:
At the end of his book, Tan paints a beautiful picture of a visit to his parents’ home near Eaton Canyon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
The state visit is expected to end Friday with a tour of the National Archives.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
Adding to the high-stakes state visit, a US-China trade agreement reached last year is set to expire in November.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
They loved the New York home so much they decided to keep it and visit as often as they could.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
One night, a prominent friend of the plantation owner, a politician named Clifton Buford, came to visit.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Medicaid benefits vary by state, but federal law requires coverage of inpatient and outpatient hospital services, doctor visits, lab tests, X-rays, home health services and other benefits.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Students will live in local housing coordinated by the school and might also partake in museum visits, cultural excursions and guest talks from people outside the tech industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
A group visits agave island during a tour of Dodger Stadium’s botanic garden on Tuesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
The couple never had children, and Norman now has no immediate family nearby to help him with things like hospital visits or housework.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
Then Dr. Evans came on one of his visits to the village.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
The characters’ parents may have visited and participated in the story lines, but these young adults were living independently.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Almost all of the company’s some 150 troops have gained at least rudimentary piloting skills, and the company’s commander, a veteran of the Afghan war, said he has visited several units inside wartime Ukraine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
However, when Lo visited during the off-season, its emptiness was “ominous” — unintentionally stirring her inner want to cause chaos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Indonesia's national police chief visited the school and met Muchtar in August last year, saying he wanted to forge closer ties with Shiddiqiyyah.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
He had seen whole logs riding on top of the water in Lake Washington when he visited his cousins in Seattle last year.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
Navatek employees began to notice members of Congress visiting their East Coast offices.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
The toddler became separated from a relative after visiting a playground in Merriam Close, Brantham, on Tuesday afternoon, Suffolk Police said.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
What was your experience visiting the factory when you were young?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
In this telling, Tommy has been made a successful crime writer, who is having trouble with his next book; Tuppence is a struggling actress, back visiting from America.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
‘When I came back from visiting her last weekend.’
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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.
