Hit \hit\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. hit; p. pr. & vb. n hitting.] [OE. hitten, hutten, of Scand. origin; cf. Dan hitte to hit, find, Sw. & Icel. hitta.]

1. To reach with a stroke or blow; to strike or touch, usually with force; especially, to reach or touch (an object aimed at)

   I think you have hit the mark. --Shak

2. To reach or attain exactly; to meet according to the occasion; to perform successfully; to attain to; to accord with; to be conformable to; to suit

   Birds learning tunes, and their endeavors to hit the notes right. --Locke

   There you hit him; . . . that argument never fails with him. --Dryden

   Whose saintly visage is too bright To hit the sense of human sight. --Milton

   He scarcely hit my humor. --Tennyson

3. To guess; to light upon or discover.

   Thou hast hit it. --Shak

4. (Backgammon) To take up, or replace by a piece belonging to the opposing player; -- said of a single unprotected piece on a point

Hit \hit\, n.

1. A successful stroke in an athletic contest (especially in baseball); "he came all the way around on Williams' hit"
2. A act of hitting one thing with another; "repeated hitting raised a large bruise"; "after three misses she finally got a hit" [syn: hitting, striking]
3. A conspicuous success; "that song was his first hit and marked the beginning of his career" [syn: bang, smash, strike]
4. An event in which two or more bodies come together [syn: collision]
5. A dose of a narcotic drug
6. A murder carried out by an underworld syndicate; "it has all the earmarks of a Mafia hit"
7. A striking against; the collision of one body against another; the stroke that touches anything

   So he the famed Cilician fencer praised, And, at each hit, with wonder seems amazed. --Dryden

8. A stroke of success in an enterprise, as by a fortunate chance; as, he made a hit

   What late he called a blessing, now was wit, And God's good providence, a lucky hit. --Pope

Hit \hit\, v. i

1. To meet or come in contact; to strike; to clash; -- followed by against or on

   If bodies be extension alone, how can they move and hit one against another? --Locke

   Corpuscles, meeting with or hitting on those bodies, become conjoined with them. --Woodward

2. To meet or reach what was aimed at or desired; to succeed, -- often with implied chance, or luck

   And oft it hits Where hope is coldest and despair most fits. --Shak

   And millions miss for one that hits. --Swift

   To hit on or upon, to light upon; to come to by chance

   None of them hit upon the art. --Addison

3. Cause to move by striking; "hit a ball"
4. Hit against; come into sudden contact with; "The arrow hit the target"; "The car hit a tree" [syn: strike, impinge on, run into, collide with] [ant: miss]
5. Affect suddenly, usually adversely; "We were hit by really bad weather" [syn: strike]
6. Deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument; "He hit her hard in the face"
7. Reach a point in time, or a certain state or level; "The thermometer hit 100 degrees"; "This car can reach a speed of 140 miles per hour" [syn: reach, attain]
8. Reach a destination, either real or abstract; "We hit Detroit by noon"; "The water reached the doorstep"; "We barely made the plane"; "I have to hit the MAC machine before the weekend starts" [syn: reach, attain, make, arrive at, gain]
9. Hit with a missile from a weapon [syn: shoot, pip]
10. Cause to experience suddenly; "Panic struck me"; "An interesting idea hit her"; "A thought came to me" [syn: strike, come to]
11. Make a strike against an enemy or a target [syn: strike]
12. As of a piano key or notes; "strike middle C"; also used metaphorically: "strike a sour note [syn: strike]
13. Hit the target or goal, as intended [ant: miss]
14. Encounter by chance; "I stumbled across a long-lost cousin last night in a restaurant" [syn: stumble]
15. Gain points; "The home team scored many times" [syn: score, tally, rack up]
16. Consume to excess; "hit the bottle"
17. Kill intentionally and with premeditation; "The mafia boss ordered his enemies murdered" [syn: murder, slay, dispatch, bump off, polish off, remove]

Hit \hit\, 3d pers. sing. pres. of hide, contracted from hideth [Obs.] --Chaucer

Hit \hit\, pron It. [Obs.] --Chaucer