| 释义 |
▪ I. bit, n.1|bɪt|
Forms: 1–4 bite, 3–5 bytt, 4 byte, 4–6 byt, bitte, 6 bytte, 7–9 bitt, 6– bit.
[Com. Teut.: OE. bite str. masc., ‘bite, biting,’ OFris. bit, bite, biti, OS. biti, (MDu. bete, Du. beet), OHG., MHG. biȥ ‘piece bitten off,’ mod.G. bisz ‘biting,’ ON. bit ‘bite, biting’ (Sw. bett, Da. bid, biden ‘bite’):—OTeut. *biti-z str. masc., f. bítan to bite. As will be seen on comparing the next word, there were two OTeut. ns. derived from this verb, of which the senses ‘act of biting,’ ‘piece bitten off,’ were not uniformly distinguished in the different langs. In OE., bite ‘act of biting, bite,’ and bita ‘piece bitten off, morsel, bit,’ were distinct, but both became bĭte, bit in ME., and both are now bit, so that they can be distinguished only by tracing the history of their senses. In the general sense the former is now represented by the later n. bite, but bit is retained in numerous specific uses, esp. that of the biting part of a tool.]
†I. Biting; what one bites. All Obs. or dial.
†1.
a. The act or action of biting; a bite. at a bit: at one bite; also fig. Obs.
c893K. ælfred Orosius i. vii, Gnættas comon ofer eall þæt land..mid fýrsmeortendum bitum. c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 370 Hundes heafod ᵹebærned to acxan..þa wedendan bitas ᵹehæleþ. a1300Cursor M. 8500 Adam..thoru a bitte [v.r. bitt, bite, bit] broght all in blam. c1300K. Alis. 5436 Her bytt envenymed was. c1440Promp. Parv. 37 Bytt, or bytynge, morsus. 1577tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 735 The fretting bit of the tooth of sin. 1639Fuller Holy War iii. xviii. (1647) 138 He..requested their aid only for forty days, hoping to chop up those Albigenses at a bit. 1653Walton Angler 55 You may, if you stand close, be sure of a bit, but not sure to catch him.
†b. fig. The ‘bite’ or ‘sting’ of death, disease, etc.; hence, to be one's bit: to be inimical or destructive to one. Obs.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 123 Morsus tuus ero inferne..þu helle ic wulle beon þin bite. a1225Ancr. R. 288 Þeonne he..bit deaðes bite. c1449Pecock Repr. ii. x. 204 A bitte to helle [inferni morsus]. 1609Bible (Douay) Hosea xiii. 14 Thy bitte wil I be ô hel.
†2. transf.
a. The cutting or penetrating action of an edged weapon. Obs.
a1000Beowulf 4126 æfter billes bite blod-faᵹ swefeð. a1000Fata Apost. (Gr.) 34 Þurh sweordes bite. a1225Leg. Kath. 2436 Ich abide her þe bite of swordes egge. c1400Destr. Troy xv. 6494 Two speirus..of fell bite.
†b. A catching hold with a sharp edge: grip.
c1400Destr. Troy xi. 4702 Þai..cast ancres with cables þat kene were of byt.
†3. The action of biting food; eating; grazing. Hence † bit-grass. Obs.
1523Fitzherb. Surv. 4 The whole commen is his owne, and his tenauntes haue..onely bytte of mouthe with their catell. a1600in Risdon Surv. Devon §308 (1810) 315 Bitt grass for all hys beasts. 1624Sanderson Serm. (1681) I. 244 An heifer..going alwayes at full bit. 1635― 2 Serm. St. Paul's i. 57 An idle servant..good at bit, and nothing else.
4. Food to bite, victuals. Chiefly dial.
1719Scot. Presbyt. Eloq. 36 (Jam.) He desires no more in the world, but a bit and a brat; that is only as much food and raiment as nature craves. a1845Hood Sweep's Compl., Here's a precious merry Christmas; I'm blest if I can earn either bit or sup! 1863Kingsley Water Bab. i. 41 Some one will give me a bit and a sup.
II. The ‘biting’ part of anything.
†5. The cutting blade or edge of an edged tool, axe, spade, etc. (obs.); the point of a pickaxe.
c1330Arth. & Merl. 4808 The Bite was to fot long. c1400Destr. Troy xvi. 7316 With the bit of his blade..He clefe hym to the coler. 1660Sharrock Vegetables 109 Get a strong hoe, of a good broad bit. 1677Grew Anat. Seeds iv. §14 The Lobes..are shaped like the Bitt of a Spade. 1747Hooson Miner's Dict. O iij, We strike or hit.. with the Bit or Point of the Hack.
6. a. The biting or cutting end or part of a tool; spec. the movable boring-piece of a drill (e.g. brace and bit, stock and bit), or a similar tool for use with the ratchet, drilling machine, boring machine, etc.; the borer for clearing the vent of a gun; the cutting-iron of a plane, the nipping parts or jaws of tongs, pincers, and similar tools.
1594Plat Jewell-ho. i. 27 A long Auger or Percer, with seuerall large bittes which he may put on and take off at his pleasure. 1677Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 94 The Gimblet..hath a Worm at the end of its Bitt. 1693Lister in Phil. Trans. XVII. 869 The superlative hardning of the Heads and Bitts of Tools. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) K, The bit, or priming-iron, is a kind of large needle..serving to clear the inside of the touch hole. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 253 The Stock is accompanied with several bits, or cutters, made of steel. 1881Greener Gun 234 The fine-boring bit..tends in a great measure to set the barrel tolerably straight.
b. Comb., as bit-brace, bit-holder, bit-stock.
1881Mechanic §266. 100 The bit-brace or stock-and-bit is the..principal tool in the second division of boring tools.
7. The part of a key, at right angles to the barrel or shank, which grips the levers of the lock.
1644MS. Louth (Lincoln.) Churchw. Acc., For one new bit for a key 4d. 1677Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 24 To every Ward on the Plates, you must make a Slit, or Ward in the Bit of the Key. 1855A. C. Hobbs Locks v. (1868) 58 Bit or Bitt, is the name given, somewhat indefinitely, either to the whole flat part of a key, or to the small stepped portions of it.
8. a. The mouthpiece of a horse's bridle, consisting of the metal bit-mouth, and adjacent parts, to which the reins are attached. (It is not clear whether the word in this sense signifies that which the horse bites, or that which bites or grips the horse's mouth. OE. had bitol bridle, frænum; ON. bitull, bitill bit of a bridle; the Da. is bid, Sw. bett, Du. gebit, Ger. gebisz.)
c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2310 With þe barbe of þe bitte bi þe bare nek. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1208 The fomy brydil with the bit [v.r. bitte] of gold. c1440Promp. Parv. 37 Bytt of a brydylle, lupatum. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, v. iii. 23 Stop their mouthes with stubborn Bits & spurre 'em. 1731Bailey Dict., Bitt [with Horsemen], in general signifies the whole machine of a bridle, as the bit-mouth, the branches, the curb, the sevil holes, the tranchefil, and the cross-chains; sometimes it is used only for the bit-mouth in particular. 1850Mrs. Browning Prometh. Bound I. 160 Steeds that love the bit They champ at.
b. fig.
1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 139, I wyll brydell the with rough byt, wife. a1649Drummond of Hawthornden Wks. 8/1 Not feeling honour's bit, nor reason's rein. 1789Wolcott (P. Pindar) Wks. (1812) II. 118 Now calmly Camden takes the bit, And trots so mildly under Master Pitt.
c. transf. A like contrivance in any apparatus.
1660Marquis of Worcester Water-comm. Engine 15 The..Engine [has] A Helm or Stern with Bitt and Reins, wherewith any Child may..controul the whole Operation.
d. to draw bit: to stop one's horse by pulling at the reins; hence fig., to stop, slacken speed; on the bit: (of a horse) pulling at the bit or ridden on a tight rein; also transf.: off the bit: ridden on a loose rein; to take the bit in his teeth (of a horse): i.e. so that it cannot hurt the mouth; hence, to become unmanageable, to be beyond restraint; also fig.; up to the bit: up to full speed allowed by the degree of restraint in which a horse is held by the bit; also transf. (Cf. bridle n. 1.)
1600Abp. Abbot Exp. Jonah 521 Neither yet taking the bit perversely in his teeth. 1664Butler Hud. ii. iii. 560 And for three years has rid your Wit And Passion without drawing Bit. 1782Cowper Table Talk 685 Spend⁓thrift..never drawing bit. 1857Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art 28 If he takes the bit fairly in his teeth. 1859J. S. Rarey Modern Art of Taming Wild Horses (ed. 2) viii. 126 Your legs are to be used to force your horse forward up to the bit... Unless a horse rides up to the bit you have no control over him. 1878G. J. Whyte-Melville Riding Recoll. v. 92 Keeping the rebel up to his bit with legs and spurs if necessary. 1889Lady C. Campbell D. Blake v. 95 ‘It's the only way to treat women,’ he thought; ‘they will always come up to the bit if you show who is the master.’ 1890Field 6 Sept. 393 At the top of the hill we cast off our leader, the remaining four go in their collars and up to their bits. 1928Daily Tel. 16 Oct. 19/1 He was going so strongly and ‘on the bit’ that it took Dines nearly two furlongs to pull him up in his own time. 1958J. Hislop Start to Finish vi. 35 All work except trials or semi-trials..is done ‘on the bit’. This means that the horse is being ridden on a tight rein and is not galloping flat out. Ibid. viii. 66 There is a vast difference between sitting against a horse when he is on the bit and riding him out when he is off the bit. 1962Listener 1 Nov. 739/3 North remained on the bit for so long [in Bridge bidding] that his partner's interest in a slam could not be awakened.
e. comb., as bit-bridle, bit-chain, bit-maker, bit-mouth, bit-rein.
1577Hellowes Gueuara's Ep. 72 Alexander the Great did write unto Pulion his Bitmaker. 1676Lond. Gaz. No. 1078/4 A brown leather Saddle..and a Bitt Bridle. 1766Entick London IV. 73 This company of Loriners or Bitt-makers. 1833Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 44 The bridoon is to be taken in the same manner as the bit reins. 1902Daily Chron. 26 Sept. 3/6 Something wrong with the bit-chain. 1908Westm. Gaz. 5 June 10/1 Bombardier Mueller deposed that Thamme had struck him several times with his fist and bit-chains.
9. techn. Applied to parts of various mechanical contrivances; e.g. the copper head of a soldering-iron; a short sliding piece of tube in a cornet for modifying the tone; the joint connecting the stretcher and rib of an umbrella; the earlike projections above the bowl of a spoon.
1703Lond. Gaz. No. 3895/4, 7 Silver Spoons, no Marks, but branched on the tops, and the outsides of the Bits, etc. a1877Knight Dict. Mech. I. 289/2 The copper piece of a soldering-tool riveted to an iron shank. A copper-bit. 1893[see soldering vbl. n. 5]. 1944Electronic Engin. XVI. 343 The handle does not tend to become unduly hot in spite of the user's hand being so near the copper bit.
▪ II. bit, n.2
Forms: 1 bita, 2 bite, 3–6 byte, 6 bytte, 6– bit.
[Com. Teut.: OE. bita wk. masc., morsel, bit = OFris. bita, OS. *bito, (MDu. bete, Du. beet bit, morsel), OHG. bizzo biting, MHG. bizze, mod.G. bisse, bissen piece bitten off, bit, ON. biti bit, mouthful (Sw. bit, Da. bid bit, morsel):—OTeut. *biton- wk. masc., f. bítan to bite. As to the relation of this to bit n.1, see that word; both became in ME. bĭte, mod.Eng. bit, so that the two words can now be separated only in sense. In the strict sense of ‘the portion bitten off,’ the later n. bite is now used.]
†1.
a. The portion of food bitten off at once; as much as is taken in the mouth at once; a mouthful; = bite n. 4. Obs.
c1000Ags. Gosp. John xiii. 27 Þa æfter þam bitan [Hatton, bite] satanas eode on hyne. 1297R. Glouc. 207 And yspyted hym þoru out myd an yrene spyte, And rostede in þys grete fure to abbe þe folle byte. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 200 Þe bite þat þei eten. 1570Levins Manip. 148 Bit, buccella, minutal. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 41 His bare thin cheekes for want of better bits. 1622Fletcher Span. Curate ii. iv. 33 He'll eat but half-a-dozen bits, and rise immediatly. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. iii. ad fin., When we dip them in vinegar, we may, for sauce to one bit, devour alive a schole of little animals.
†b. A bite or mouthful of grass for cattle. Obs.
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §70 And there be to moche grasse in a close, the cattel shall fede the worse, for a good bytte to the erthe is suffycyente. 1579Tomson Calvin Serm. Tim. 151/2 The verie asses may haue a bit there, as we say in common prouerbes.
This passes into the sense of:
2. Morsel, small piece (of food), without actual reference to biting. Hence dainty bit, tit-bit, etc.
c1200Ormin 8640 He badd tatt ȝho shollde himm ec An bite brædess brinngenn. c1550Scot. Poems 16th C. II. 197 Gif God was made of bits of breid. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. i. i. 26 Dainty bits Make rich the ribs, but bankerout the wits. c1626Dick of Devon i. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. II. 15 England that yeare was but a bit pickd out To be layd on their Kinges Trencher. 1684Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 67 Come, said Christiana, will you eat a bit? c1850Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.) 615, I had not had a bit of meat for a long time in my house. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. §11. 80 We had not a bit of bread nor a drop of wine left.
By extension to other things:
3. a. A small piece formed by cutting, breaking, or other process; a morsel, a fragment.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. ii. 159 The fragments, scraps, the bits, & greazie reliques, Of her ore-eaten faith. 1611Cotgr., Piecette, a shred, bit, morsell, manmocke; a small parcell, or peece. 1694Salmon Iatrica i. v. 303/1 Cut also the root of Peony into little bits. 1716–18Lady M. W. Montague Lett. I. x. 35 There is not the least bit of linen to be seen. 1838Cooper Surg. Dict. 1470 To remove [from the wound] any extraneous matter, such as gravel, bits of glass or china.
b. by bits: a little at a time; bit by bit: = prec., gradually, piecemeal; also attrib. and quasi-n.; † at bits and starts: irregularly, intermittingly (cf. by fits and starts); bits and bats (or bobs, pieces): fragments, oddments, odds and ends; small articles, personal belongings, bric-à-brac; (all) to bits: (reduced) to the condition of fragments; to go to bits: to go to pieces (see piece n. 1 c).
1596Spenser F.Q. iv. ii. 33 Workes of heavenly wits Are quite devourd, and brought to nought by little bits! 1624Gataker Transubst. 176 His grace is not consumed by bits. 1632Sherwood, By bitts, par morceaux. 1704Swift T. Tub (1768) I. 142 He writ it in a week at bits and starts. a1720[see to prep. 11 a]. 1849Hare Par. Serm. ii. 189 To pick it up in this way bit by bit. 1859E. FitzGerald Omar Khayyam lxxiii. 16 This sorry Scheme of Things entire, Would not we shatter it to bits. 1871Freeman Hist. Ess. Ser. i. ii. 45 This sort of bit-by-bit reform, going on for six hundred years. 1896Yorks. Weekly Post 7 June, Ah've sammed up a toathry oddments—bits an' bats mi mother ud call em. 1896G. F. Northall Warwicks. Word-Bk. 29 Gather up your bits-and-bobs, and let me lay the tea. 1905G. B. Shaw Let. 31 July (1946) 21 We have withdrawn the play there because it went to bits. 1931S. Jameson Richer Dust xv. 427 His right leg and his stomach had been full of what he called bits and pieces. 1933W. S. Maugham Sheppey iii. p. 91 I'm not going to stand by and see you sneak his bits and pieces. 1936G. Pollett Song for Sixpence iii. iv. 239 A shop of artistic ‘bits and pieces’ standing alongside the close. 1940New Statesman 9 Nov. 466/1 There was still only the rubble, the bits and bats of broken furniture. 1955‘E. C. R. Lorac’ Ask Policeman ii. 25 She'd taken all her bits and pieces to uncle long ago. 1958M. Allingham Hide my Eyes xv. 151 Give those chaps half an hour in here with their bits and bobs and there's no telling what they might be able to find. 1959Listener 16 July 107/1 Is it all bits and pieces, a mosaic of images?
4. a. A small portion or quantity, a little (of anything material or immaterial). Also applied to complete objects, viewed as portions or samples of a substance. to give any one a bit of one's mind: (colloq.) to express one's candid (and uncomplimentary) opinion of his conduct, etc.
1740–61Mrs. Delany Life & Corr. (1861) III. 239, I shall be only allowed bits and scraps of time for it. 1815Scott Guy M. xi, There was never a prettier bit o' horseflesh in the stable o' the Gordon Arms. 1859Jephson Britanny xv. 244 Picturesque little bits of scenery. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. App. 696 The vigorous little bit of English. 1873H. Spencer Stud. Sociol. vii. (1877) 154 The peasant was called from his heavily-burdened bit of land. 1876Trevelyan Macaulay II. ix. 122 This bit of criticism shews genuine perspicacity. 1864Ld. Campbell in Times 12 Apr. (Hoppe) He had given the house what was called a ‘bit of his mind’ on the subject.
b. ellipt.
1862Ansted Channel Isl. i. iv. (ed. 2) 63 The rocky bits to be seen at the back of Herm. 1879Furnivall Rep. E. Eng. Text Soc. 6 The Preface has an interesting bit..about Wine-growing in England.
c. Used depreciatively or pitifully in Sc. and north Eng., as in ‘bits of children’ = poor little children. Also in colloquial Eng., in singular, as ‘a bit of a coward’ = somewhat of a coward; ‘a little bit of a place’ = a place comparatively petty; and in understatements, in the sense of ‘a considerable; quite a (lot of)’. Cf.to take a bit of doing (sense 4 h, below).
1677Rutherford Lett. lxxix. (1862) I. 201 What is behind..but that sinners warm their bits of clay houses at a fire of their own kindling. c1771S. Foote Maid of Bath i. 20 Your beauty is a little bit of a jilt. 1815Scott Guy M. xxvi, When Ailie has had her new gown and the bairns their bits o' duds. 1836T. Hook G. Gurney i. 7 My young companion was a bit of a poet, a bit of an artist, a bit of a musician, and..a bit of an actor. 1855Carlyle in Froude Life (1885) II. xxii. 170 Thy bits of debts paid. 1861Geo. Eliot Silas M. 110 As to washing its bits o' things. 1866J. E. Brogden Prov. Words in Lincolnshire 229 We'd six little mouths ta fill{ddd}'twer a-bit-on-a-pill [pull]. 1885Illustr. Lond. News 9 May 491/1 A bit of a landslip somewhere down the line. 1885Manch. Exam. 28 May 5/3 If Riel proved himself to be a bit of a coward. 1913‘G. A. Birmingham’ Gen. John Regan vi. 99 He may have been a bit of a lad in his early days. 1930‘J. J. Connington’ Two Tickets viii. 109 ‘That was a bit of a job,’ he said ruefully. 1966G. W. Turner Eng. Lang. Austral & N.Z. iii. 48 Faced with tragedy, what can one say except ‘It's a bit of a cow’?
d. = tit-bit b; esp. in pl., a number of short items in a popular periodical.
1884(title) Illustrated bits. 1892Idler May 483 Once on board ship, I tried a course of ‘bits’, pictorial, philosophical, scientific, conundrumistic, and otherwise. 1896Daily News 4 Nov. 2/7 This is a weekly journal called ‘Gems’. As its title suggests, the new paper will be of the ‘bits’ order. 1928Granta 30 Nov. 172/1 If the editor of the Review were to ask me to write a little bit about Christmas I should laugh in his face.
e. a bit: a sum of money; money. (Cf. 8 a.) slang.
1894A. Morrison Mean Streets 214 Bill had been ‘left a bit’, and ‘a bit’ means money, all the world over. 1909Ware Passing Eng. 31/1 To have a bit on (Sporting), to have a bet on—a ‘bit’ of money on—a race. 1928Galsworthy Swan Song ii. iii. 124 He knew that everybody had ‘a bit on’ something now-a-days. For one person who ever went racing there were twenty..who didn't, and yet knew at least enough to lose their money.
f. A woman or girl (perh. ellipt. for a bit of muslin, etc.: see 4 h); cf. piece n. 9 b. slang.
1923in J. Manchon Le Slang 62. 1931 Galsworthy Maid in Waiting v. 34 He had seen the girl pass twice or three times—had noticed her specially as a ‘nice bit’. 1953B. Goolden China Pig xiii. 195 If I want a common little bit for a best girl that's my look-out, too.
g. A small part in a play or film; freq. attrib. and Comb., as bit part, bit player; also transf. orig. U.S.
1926Amer. Speech I. 437/1 Bit, any small part. It may be a thinking part or the character may have a few lines. Occasionally a bit in the hands of a capable actor..is the outstanding hit of the show. 1936F. Scully Bedside Manna 155 So I got a job as a bit-player in Hollywood. 1937Kansas City Star 17 Oct. 4 The bass horn player..getting ready to do a bit part. 1940Manch. Guardian Weekly 14 June 469 He spotted Cagney when Cagney was a ‘bit’ player, and was early in recognising Bette Davis's..talents. 1946J. B. Priestley Bright Day v. 138 They gave her a test and a couple of bit parts. 1954M. Allingham No Love Lost 108 Francia had been spotted playing ‘bits’ in Sweden.
h. In various colloq. and slang uses containing a bit of = a small amount or a small specimen of (see quots.). So a bit of blood: a mettlesome horse; a bit of cavalry: a horse; a (little) bit of all right: something or somebody regarded as highly satisfactory; esp. applied to a pretty or obliging woman; a bit of muslin: see muslin 2; similarly a bit of fluff, a bit of goods, a bit of mutton (see fluff n.1 1 d, mutton 4); to take a bit of doing: see doing vbl. n. 1 a; not a bit of it = not a bit (see sense 5). Also to do one's bit: to play one's part; to fulfil one's responsibilities or obligations; to make one's contribution to a cause or the like, esp. by serving in the armed forces.
1787‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsem. (1809) 20 Nothing now is to be seen but bred horses; every apprentice must bestride a bit of blood. c1810W. Hickey Mem. (1960) xx. 329 If you be a lord, it must be a bit of bastard business. 1819Moore Tom Crib (ed. 3) 11 A showy, but hot and unsound, bit of blood. 1821Moncrieff Tom & Jerry i. vi, I shall here buy a bit of cavalry—that is a prad. 1828Subaltern's Log Bk. II. 164, I entered the house in great spirits, fancying myself, to make use of a slang phrase, a very good bit of stuff. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xxxvi, We rather put the bits of blood upon their mettle. 1847A. & H. Mayhew Greatest Plague vii. 86 When the conceited bit of goods came after the situation, she looked so clean, tidy, and respectable. 1853C. R. Read Austral. Gold Fields 123 A good paddock, in which are a few bits of blood. 1854Lever Dodd Fam. Abr. xxii, ‘I'm sorry,’ said he, ‘that the ‘bit of stiff’,’ meaning the bill, ‘wasn't for five thousand francs.’ 1855Harper's Mag. May 791/1 ‘She is too good for me, or for the world!’ ‘Not a bit of it, Philip.’ 1874Hotten Slang Dict., Bit-of-Stuff, overdressed man; a man with full confidence in his appearance and abilities; a young woman, who is also called a bit of muslin. 1882Papers for People 7 June 102 The convicts almost to a man set such a high value on a ‘bit of leaf’. 1889Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang, Bit of blood, a spirited horse that has some blood. Bit of cavalry, a saddle horse. Bit of leaf (prison), a small quantity of tobacco. Bit of mutton (common), a nice woman, generally in a questionable sense... Bit of sticks (sporting), a copse... Bits of stiff (popular), bank notes. 1889G. B. Shaw in Star 13 Apr. 4/3 The generosity with which ‘the industrial classes’ audience applaud you if they think you have ‘done your bit’ heartily. 1898J. D. Brayshaw Slum Silhouettes 109 She was a nice little bit o' goods. There's her portrait... A nice little bit of orlright, ain't she? 1902Kipling in Windsor Mag. Dec. 4/2 ‘This,’ said Pyecroft..‘is a bit of all right.’ 1903Yeats Let. 1 Aug. (1954) III. 408 Archbishop Walsh has ‘a little bit of all right’ for the Chester Cup. 1904A. Bennett Great Man xii. 120 It's a girl... She's a bit of all right. 1905H. G. Wells Kipps i. iv. §1 That was a Fair Bit of All Right. 1910― Mr. Polly ix, This beef is a Bit of All Right, Ma'm. 1911Kipling in Windsor Mag. Aug. 261/2 ‘He's a raging blight!’ ‘Not a bit of it,’ said Stalky cheerfully. 1915Punch 12 May 362/1 For these our Army does its bit. 1917Ladies' Home Jrnl. June 78/2 Every man beyond the military age can and should do his ‘bit’. 1919Galsworthy Saint's Progress iii. ii. §2 These young women are ‘doing their bit’, as you call it; bringing refreshments to all those who are serving their country. 1919G. B. Shaw (title) Augustus does his bit. 1932T. S. Eliot Sweeney Agonistes 18 Yes we did our bit, as you folks say, I'll tell the world we got the Hun on the run. 1957Listener 24 Oct. 671/1 The B.B.C. has done its bit to restore the balance.
i. (See quot. 1960.) slang (orig. U.S.).
1958G. Lea Somewhere there's Music 69 What's the Mister Musician bit? 1959F. Astaire Steps in Time (1960) vi. 45 We were in Detroit—stranded—and that is where Mother did the pawning-of-the-jewels bit. 1960Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 39/2 Bit, any expected or well-defined action, plan, series of events, or attitudes, usu., but not necessarily, of short duration; one's attitude, personality, or way of life; fig., the role which one assumes in a specif. situation or in life. Orig. bop and cool use. 1961‘I. T. Ross’ Requiem for Schoolgirl xi. 179 ‘The Gestapo bit,’ she told her friends bitterly. Ibid. 182 ‘I don't dig the bit,’ Monty muttered. 1968Scottish Daily Mail 3 Jan. 6 They're crazy about this psychological bit. 1969Gandalf's Garden iv. 9/1, I was originally on the jazz scene and in a terrible state. You know, doing the whole bit, being on the phoney junkie trip which nearly every jazz musician was on.
5. colloq. A very small measure or degree, a jot, a whit; used advb. in the expressions a bit: a little, somewhat, rather; not a bit: not in the least, not at all; every bit: entirely, quite; a bit much: a little too much (to have to endure); something excessive or very annoying.
1675Cotton Poet. Wks. (1765), I had not wrong'd the Gods a bit. 1719T. Gordon Cordial Low Spir. 174 An Aspect every Bit as terrible. 1749Fielding Tom Jones ix. vi, He loves her not a bit the worse. 1860Geo. Eliot Mill on Fl. ii. II. 71 You should have sent me to school a bit more. 1865Trollope Belton Est. iii. 26 The old tower out there. It isn't changed a bit! 1869Trevelyan Horace at Univ. Athens 61 He sings a sparkling song, can write a bit. 1885Illustr. Lond. News 14 Feb. 184/1, I am a little bit afraid of him. 1939‘N. Blake’ Smiler with Knife iv. 70 This is a bit much, isn't it, darling?.. I don't approve of baby-snatching. 1954I. Murdoch Under Net xviii. 248 This is a bit much!.. I was asleep.
6. a. colloq. A short while; a short space of time.
1653Walton Angler 211 There we sit For a bit Till we fish intangle. 1794Godwin Cal. Williams (1849) 86, ‘I think we may as well stop here a bit.’ 1800M. Edgeworth Cast. Rackrent Wks. 1832 I. 70 ‘It's no time for punch yet a bit.’ 1884P'cess Alice Mem. 41, I cannot tell you what pleasure it has been to have that dear child a little bit.
b. Sc. The exact point or ‘nick’ of time.
1785Burns Addr. Deil xi, When the best wark-lume i'the house..Is instant made no worth a louse, Just at the bit.
c. A prison sentence. slang.
1871Session Paper: Central Criminal Court 10 July 156 Bill, how do they know of your bit in Dover? 1884A. Griffiths Chron. Newgate II. ix. 407 All three..passed on..to Leicester, where they did their ‘bit’. 1917New Republic 13 Jan. 294/1 Ferrati, whose ‘bit’ was three to seven years. 1951J. H. Smyth I, Mobster xii. 133 The only question was how much of a bit Lucky would get.
7. Sc. A small piece of ground, a ‘spot.’
1814Scott Wav. III. 237 It's a bieldy enough bit. 1816― Antiq. xxv, What gars ye stop [digging] now?—ye're just at the very bit for a chance. 1879Jamieson Sc. Dict. s.v., He canna stan' in a bit [i.e. still, in one spot].
8. In reference to money:
a. Thieves' slang. Money. Cf. bite n. 5.
1607Dekker Jests to make Merie Wks. (Grosart) II. 328 If they..once knew where the bung and the bit is..your purse and the money. 1608― Belm. Lond. III. 122 To learne..what store of Bit he hath in his Bag. 1832Mirror 17 Nov. 333 Coiners..vulgus, Bit-makers.
b. Applied in the Southern States of N. America, in the West Indies, etc., to small silver coins forming fractions of the Spanish dollar, or (when these are obsolete) to their value in current money. Now usu. applied in the U.S. to a unit of value equivalent to an eighth of a dollar; used only in even multiples, as four bits, six bits.
In the eighteenth century the bit was generally the old Mexican real = 1/8 of a dollar or about 6½d. sterling; later values assigned are a half pistareen or 1/10 of a dollar, 1/16 of a dollar, and (in some colonies) the value of 1½d. sterling.
1683Col. Rec. Penn. I. 85 Their Abuse to y⊇ Governmt, in Quining of Spanish Bitts and Boston money. 1730Southall Bugs 8, I would give him..a Bit, (a Piece of Spanish Money, there current at Seven-pence Half-Penny). 1780Cook Voy. (1785) I. 18 The meat is..sold for half a Bit (three pence sterling) a pound. c1782T. Jefferson Autobiog. Wks. 1859 I. App. 165 The tenth [of the dollar] will be precisely the Spanish bit, or half-pistareen. a1848Marryat R. Reefer liii, I..gave my sable nurses a handful of bits each. 1873Barry & Patten Men & Mem. San Francisco xiii. 132 Two bits for a cup of coffee; two bits for a piece of pie; or if hunger and economy were to be considered, two doughnuts for a quarter of a dollar. 1883Century Mag. XXVII. 29 With six bits in his pocket and an axe upon his shoulder. 1909Webster, Bit..now, usually, the sum of 12½ cents (generally in the phrases two bits, four bits, six bits). 1938Runyon Furthermore xiv. 281 She has..a smile like six bits. 1939Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath xvi. 224 If you wanta pull in here an' camp it'll cost you four bits.
c. colloq. A small coin or ‘piece’ of money, the value being generally named, as seven-shilling bit (an obs. Eng. gold coin), sixpenny bit, fourpenny bit, and threepenny bit. In slang = fourpence.
1829Marryat F. Mildmay ii, A seven shilling bit would be thought handsome.
9. In Scotch bit is used for bit of (‘a bit bread’; cf. Ger. ein Stück Brod), and for bit of a (‘a bit bairn’); in the latter use it approaches the nature of an adj. = little, tiny, small.
1785Burns Cotter's Sat. Nt. iii, His wee bit ingle blinkin bonilie. 1787Beattie Scotticisms 13 A bit bread, a bit paper.—A bit of bread, a bit of paper. 1816Scott Antiq. vii, I heard ye were here, frae the bit callant ye sent. 1883J. Hawthorne in Harper's Mag. Nov. 926/1, I can take a bit draw of the pipe.
10. Comb. bit-wise, little by little, a bit at a time, piecemeal.
1832Austin Jurispr. (1879) II. 1064 Codified law does not adapt itself to the successive wants of successive ages so easily as law made bit-wise.
▸ fig. colloq. (orig. and chiefly Brit.). in bits: in a state of distressing confusion or (severe) emotional stress or upset. Cf. to pieces at piece n. Phrases 2a, shattered adj. c.
1937L. MacNiece Out of Picture ii. ii. 122 You do not really belong here any more. Your world is in bits already. 1961J. Chiari tr. J.-L. Barrault Theatre of Jean-Louis Barrault vi. 186 His nerves were at breaking point and my heart was in bits. 1988Guardian (Nexis) 5 May Sure, I'm in bits, I went in on myself with the depression. 2001N. Griffiths Sheepshagger 191 ‘All upset about Roger was he?’ ‘In bits, yeh.’
▪ III. † bit n.3 Obs.
Forms: 1 byt, bytt, 2 butte, 3–5 bitte, 4 bit.
[OE. byt(t) str. fem., cogn. w. ON. bytta pail, MDu., MLG. butte (Du. but, LG. but, büt water-bucket, cask; adopted, at some period, from med.L. buttis, butta (cf. It. botte, Sp., Pr. bota, F. botte, boute), of uncertain origin: see Diez, Littré, Scheler. OE. had also byden fem., a butt, cogn. w. OHG. butina, MHG. büten, bute, mod.G. bütte, adopted from med.L. butīna, *budīna, dim. of butta. The phonetic forms show that these words are not Teutonic. Cf. butt, bottle.]
A leathern bottle or flask; the uterus or womb; a fire-bucket.
c1000Ags. Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker Voc. 336 Uter, byt. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. ix. 17 Ne hiᵹ ne doð niwe wín on ealde bytta..ᵹyf hi doð, þa bytta beoð tobrokene. a1200in Wr.-Wülcker Voc. 552 Uter, butte. c1230Hali Meid. 35 Inwið þi wombe swelin þe bitte [v.r. butte]. c1467E.E. Gilds 382 That the bitters be redy with hur horses and bittes to brynge water..when eny parelle of fuyre ys.
▪ IV. bit, n.4|bɪt|
[Abbrev. of binary digit.]
1. A unit of information derived from a choice between two equally probable alternatives or ‘events’; such a unit stored electronically in a computer.
1948C. E. Shannon in Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. July 380 The choice of a logarithmic base corresponds to the choice of a unit for measuring information. If the base 2 is used the resulting units may be called binary digits, or more briefly bits, a word suggested by J. W. Tukey. 1952Sci. Amer. Sept. 135/1 It is almost certain that ‘bit’ will become common parlance in the field of information, as ‘horsepower’ is in the motor field. 1957New Scientist 9 May 14/1 One ‘bit’ is the smallest amount of data which can exist, and corresponds to the answer to a yes-or-no question. On this basis, a decimal numeral can be described with four bits and an alphabetic letter with five... Existing electronic computers can store, in their normal memories, up to about one million bits.
2. Special Comb.: bit map, a representation, e.g. of a computer memory, in which each item is represented by one bit; spec. a graphic display in which characters are formed by assigning to each individual pixel a bit value; so bit-mapped ppl. a., employing or involving a bit map; bit mapping vbl. n., the use of a bit map.
1973Computing Surveys June 112/1 In a *bit map scheme, a Boolean form of the matrix M is the basic indexing reference. Whenever a non-zero entry occurs in the sparse matrix, a 1 bit is placed in the bit-map. 1981High Technol. Sept. 20 All have headend electronics that takes the input character stream and makes a ‘bitmap’, a point-by-point representation of a page. 1983Your Computer (Austral.) June 94/2, I have included a program..which when run will provide a bitmap of the specified disk.
1978Proc. Micro-Delcon (Delaware Bay Microcomputer Conf.) 21/2 The system features a *bit-mapped display. 1983Electronics 1 Dec. 139 High-performance bitmapped graphics.
1979Computer Oct. 25/1 The RTBM—real-time *bit mapping—scan for the same parameters shows the detailed effect that the failure mechanism has on each memory cell. 1984J. Hilton Choosing & using your Home Computer 265/1 ‘Bit-mapping’..enables the programmer to control each individual pixel within a given area of the screen.
▪ V. bit, v.|bɪt|
[f. bit n.1]
1. trans. To furnish with a bit, to put the bit into the mouth of (a horse); to accustom to the bit.
1583Golding Calvin on Deut. clvi. 962 Wee be as coltes that were neuer sadled nor bitted. 1602Warner Alb. Eng. xii. lxxii. (1612) 298 Till when the Horse was neuer back't nor bitted. 1814Scott Wav. xxxix, The horses were not trained to the regular pace..nor did they seem bitted (as it is technically expressed) for the use of the sword.
2. fig. To curb, restrain.
1824Coleridge Aids Refl. (1848) I. 82 It is not women and Frenchmen only that would rather have their tongues bitten than bitted. 1858Bright For. Pol., Sp. (1876) 468 At the Revolution the monarchy of England was bridled and bitted.
▪ VI. bit
pa. tense and pple. of bite v. |