hit (hits plural & 3rd person present) (hitting present participle )
The form hit is used in the present tense and is the past and present participle.
1 verb If you hit someone or something, you deliberately touch them with a lot of force, with your hand or an object held in your hand.
(=strike)
Find the exact grip that allows you to hit the ball hard... V n
Police at the scene said Dr Mahgoub had been hit several times in the head. V n
2 verb When one thing hits another, it touches it with a lot of force.
(=strike)
The car had apparently hit a traffic sign before skidding out of control... V n
3 verb If a bomb or missile hits its target, it reaches it.
The hospital had been hit with heavy artillery fire. V n
Hit is also a noun., n-count
First a house took a direct hit and then the rocket exploded.
4 verb If something hits a person, place, or thing, it affects them very badly. (JOURNALISM)
The plan to charge motorists £75 a year to use the motorway is going to hit me hard... V n
About two-hundred people died in the earthquake which hit northern Peru... V n
5 verb When a feeling or an idea hits you, it suddenly affects you or comes into your mind.
It hit me that I had a choice... it V n that
Then the answer hit me. It had been staring me in the face. V n
6 verb If you hit a particular high or low point on a scale of something such as success or health, you reach it. (JOURNALISM)
Oil prices hit record levels yesterday. V n
7 n-count If a CD, film, or play is a hit, it is very popular and successful.
oft N n (Antonym: flop)
The song became a massive hit in 1945.
8 n-count A hit is a single visit to a website. (COMPUTING)
Our small company has had 78,000 hits on its Internet pages.
9 n-count If someone who is searching for information on the Internet gets a hit, they find a website where there is that information.
10 If two people hit it off, they like each other and become friendly as soon as they meet.
INFORMAL
hit it off phrase V inflects, pl-n PHR, PHR with n
They hit it off straight away, Daddy and Walter...
11
→
to hit the headlines
→
headline
→
to hit home
→
home
→
to hit the nail on the head
→
nail
→
to hit the road
→
road
→
to hit the roof
→
roof hit back
1 phrasal verb If you hit back when someone hits you, or hit them back, you hit them in return.
Some violent men beat up their sons, until the boys are strong enough to hit back... V P
If somebody hit me, I'd hit him back. V n P
2 phrasal verb If you hit backat someone who has criticized or harmed you, you criticize or harm them in return. (JOURNALISM)
(=strike back)
The President has hit back at those who have criticised his economic reforms... V P at n
British Rail immediately hit back with their own cheap fares scheme. V P hit on , hit upon
1 phrasal verb If you hit on an idea or a solution to a problem, or hit upon it, you think of it.
(=stumble on)
After running through the numbers in every possible combination, we finally hit on a solution. V P n
2 phrasal verb If someone hits on you, they speak or behave in a way that shows they want to have a sexual relationship with you.
INFORMAL She was hitting on me and I was surprised and flattered. V P n hit out
1 phrasal verb If you hit outat someone, you try to hit them, although you may miss them.
(mainly BRIT)
(=lash out)
I used to hit out at my husband and throw things at him... V P at n
I had never punched anybody in my life but I hit out and gave him a black eye. V P
2 phrasal verb If you hit out at someone or something, you criticize them strongly because you do not agree with them. (JOURNALISM)
(=lash out) The President took the opportunity to hit out at what he sees as foreign interference... V P at/against n Brazilian soccer boss Carlos Parreira hit out angrily last night after his side were barred from training at Wembley. V P hit upon →
hit on
direct hit (direct hits plural )If a place suffers a direct hit, a bomb, bullet, or other missile that has been aimed at it lands exactly in that place, rather than some distance away. n-count
The dug-outs were secure from everything but a direct hit.
hit and miss , hit-and-miss
If something is hit and miss or hit or miss, it is sometimes successful and sometimes not. adj
Farming can be very much a hit-and-miss affair.
hit-and-run
1 adj A hit-and-run accident is an accident in which the driver of a vehicle hits someone and then drives away without stopping.
ADJ n
...a hit-and-run driver in a stolen car.
2 adj A hit-and-run attack on an enemy position relies on surprise and speed for its success.
ADJ n
The rebels appear to be making hit-and-run guerrilla style attacks on military targets.
hit list (hit lists plural )
1 n-count If someone has a hit listof people or things, they are intending to take action concerning those people or things.
oft poss N, N of n
Some banks also have a hit list of people whom they threaten to sue for damages.
2 n-count A hit list is a list that someone makes of people they intend to have killed.
hit or miss
→
hit and miss
hit parade
Thehit parade is the list of CDs which have sold most copies over the previous week or month.
OLD-FASHIONED n-sing the N
(=charts)
pinch-hit (pinch-hits 3rd person present) (pinch-hitting present participle) (pinch-hit past tense & past participle ), pinch hit
1 verb If you pinch-hitfor someone, you do something for them because they are unexpectedly unable to do it.
(AM)
The staff here can pinch hit for each other when the hotel is busy. V for n
2 verb In a game of baseball, if you pinch-hit for another player, you hit the ball instead of them.
(AM)
Davalillo goes up to pinch-hit. V
pinch-hitter (pinch-hitters plural) n-count
Pinch-hitter Francisco Cabrera lashed a single to left field.
smash hit (smash hits plural )A smash hit or a smash is a very popular show, play, or song. n-count
The show was a smash hit.
