Dictionary

hit

Pronunciation: (hit), [key]
—v., hit, hit•ting,
—n.

—v.t.
1. to deal a blow or stroke to: Hit the nail with the hammer.
2. to come against with an impact or collision, as a missile, a flying fragment, a falling body, or the like: The car hit the tree.
3. to reach with a missile, a weapon, a blow, or the like, as one throwing, shooting, or striking: Did the bullet hit him?
4. to succeed in striking: With his final shot he hit the mark.
5. Baseball.
a. to make (a base hit): He hit a single and a home run.
b. bat¹ (def. 14).
6. to drive or propel by a stroke: to hit a ball onto the green.
7. to have a marked effect or influence on; affect severely: We were all hit by the change in management.
8. to assail effectively and sharply (often fol. by out): The speech hits out at warmongering.
9. to request or demand of: He hit me for a loan.
10. to reach or attain (a specified level or amount): Prices are expected to hit a new low. The new train can hit 100 mph.
11. to be published in or released to; appear in: When will this report hit the papers? What will happen when the story hits the front page?
12. to land on or arrive in: The troops hit the beach at 0800. When does Harry hit town?
13. to give (someone) another playing card, drink, portion, etc.: If the dealer hits me with an ace, I'll win the hand. Bartender, hit me again.
14. to come or light upon; meet with; find: to hit the right road.
15. to agree with; suit exactly: I'm sure this purple shirt will hit Alfred's fancy.
16. to solve or guess correctly; come upon the right answer or solution: You've hit it!
17. to succeed in representing or producing exactly: to hit a likeness in a portrait.
18. Informal.to begin to travel on: Let's hit the road. What time shall we hit the trail?

—v.i.
1. to strike with a missile, a weapon, or the like; deal a blow or blows: The armies hit at dawn.
2. to come into collision (often fol. by against, on, or upon): The door hit against the wall.
3. Slang.to kill; murder.
4. (of an internal-combustion engine) to ignite a mixture of air and fuel as intended: This jalopy is hitting on all cylinders.
5. to come or light (usually fol. by upon or on): to hit on a new way.
6. hit it off, Informal.to be congenial or compatible; get along; agree: We hit it off immediately with the new neighbors. She and her brother had never really hit it off.
7. hit off,
a. to represent or describe precisely or aptly: In his new book he hits off the American temperament with amazing insight.
b. to imitate, esp. in order to satirize.
8. hit on, Slang.to make persistent sexual advances to: guys who hit on girls at social events.
9. hit out,
a. to deal a blow aimlessly: a child hitting out in anger and frustration.
b. to make a violent verbal attack: Critics hit out at the administration's new energy policy.
10. hit the books, Slang.to study hard; cram.
11. hit the bottle, Slang.See bottle (def. 4).
12. hit the high spots,
a. to go out on the town; go nightclubbing: We'll hit the high spots when you come to town.
b. to do something in a quick or casual manner, paying attention to only the most important or obvious facets or items: When I clean the house I hit the high spots and that's about all. This course will hit the high spots of ancient history.
13. hit up, Slang.
a. to ask to borrow money from: He hit me up for ten bucks.
b. to inject a narcotic drug into a vein.

—n.
1. an impact or collision, as of one thing against another.
2. a stroke that reaches an object; blow.
3. a stroke of satire, censure, etc.: a hit at complacency.
4. Baseball.See base hit.
5. Backgammon.
a. a game won by a player after the opponent has thrown off one or more men from the board.
b. any winning game.
6. a successful stroke, performance, or production; success: The play is a hit.
7. Slang.a dose of a narcotic drug.
8. Computers.(in information retrieval) an instance of successfully locating an item of data in the memory bank of a computer.
9. Slang.a killing, murder, or assassination, esp. one carried out by criminal prearrangements.
10. hit or miss, without concern for correctness or detail; haphazardly: The paint job had been done hit or miss.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.

histrionics

hit-and-miss

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