chit
/t͡ʃɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.01 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A pert or sassy young person, especially a young woman.
verb
To damage the outer layers of a seed such as Lupinus or Sophora to assist germination.
British usage; Transitive verb
verb
To initiate sprouting of tubers, such as potatoes, by placing them in special environment, before planting into the soil.
British usage; Transitive verb
noun
A small sheet or scrap of paper with a hand-written note as a reminder or personal message.
British usage; Dated
Example Sentences
- "Madam was a little chit of a woman, not five feet in her highest headdress and shoes, and Mr. Washington a great tall man of six feet two."
- "“These are returns,” I said, “quite fit To me, who nursed you when a chit. For shame, lay by this envious art; Is this to act a sister's part?”"
- "[…] he seemed to come forward from an era of sexual defiance and fighting alliances and to cast a dismissive eye over a little chit like Nick, who had never fought for anything."
- "Hilda drove in silence for some time after this piece of unheard-of insolence from that chit Connie."
- "Near-synonyms: shoot, sprout, seedling"
- "the chits of Indian corn or of potatoes"
Etymology
From Middle English chitte (“a young animal, cub, whelp”), from Old English *ċytten, *ċietten, *ċitten, from Proto-West Germanic *kittīn, from Proto-Germanic *kittīną (“young animal, fawn, kid”). Cognate with Scots chit (“chit”), Low German kitte (“young animal”), German Kitz (“fawn, kid”). See also kid.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: chitte, *ċytten, *kittīn, *kittīną, *chit, ċīþ
Usage
- Obsolete
- British usage
- Intransitive verb
- Transitive verb
- Dated
- Indian usage
- American usage
- Slang