What does "chit" mean?
A child or babe; a young, small, or insignificant person or animal.
Chit
/t͡ʃɪt/ intj, noun, verb, slang
intj, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A child or babe; a young, small, or insignificant person or animal.
- Grammar: chit is listed as intj, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: accounts payable, accounts receivable, acknowledgment, amount due.
- Useful contrasts: adult, elder.
- Usage evidence: Bob drew the winning chit at the raffle.
How to use "chit"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "chit" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "chit" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "chit" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "chit" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "chit" is acting as intj, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "accounts payable" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "chit", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A child or babe; a young, small, or insignificant person or animal.
"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."
- 2 The embryonic growing bud of a plant.
"Near-synonyms: shoot, sprout, seedling"
- 3 A small sheet or scrap of paper with a hand-written note as a reminder or personal message. dated
- 4 A small tool used in cleaving laths. Compare: froe.
"Then lastly (with their Chit) they cleave their Laths into their thicknesses, by the Quarter Grain, which is that Grain which is seen to run in strait Lines towards the Pith."
- 5 Shit. US, euphemistic, slang, uncountable
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 the bill in a restaurant wordnet
- 7 A pert or sassy young person, especially a young woman.
"Hilda drove in silence for some time after this piece of unheard-of insolence from that chit Connie."
- 8 An excrescence on the body, as a wart or a pimple. obsolete
- 9 A voucher or token coin used in payrolls under the truck system. historical
- 10 a dismissive term for a girl who is immature or who lacks respect wordnet
- 11 A small sheet of paper on which is written a prescription to be filled; a scrip.
- 12 A smaller cardboard counter generally used not to directly represent something but for another, more transient, purpose such as tracking or randomization.
"1.4.3 Also on the board, but turned face down at the beginning of the game, are chits representing treasure sites and sounds and warnings of monsters that may arrive on the map. When characters end a turn in the hex, these chits are revealed. As characters move around the board, more and more of these chits will be revealed, letting the players know where monsters and treasures are to be found."
- 13 A signed voucher or memorandum of a small debt, as for food and drinks at a club. China, India, Philippines
"1901, Falk, by Joseph Conrad He just longed to get away from here and try his luck somewhere else, but for the sake of his sister he hung on and on till he ran himself into debt over his ears—I can tell you. I, myself, could show a handful of his chits for meals and drinks in my drawer."
- 14 A restaurant bill or check Philippines
"When asking for the bill or chit in a Philippine restaurant, you can make use of hand signals if the waiter is quite far off."
- 15 A debt or favor owed in return for a prior loan or favor granted, especially a political favor. US, slang
"Harry would call in a chit with some desk manager who owed him a favor."
Verb
- 1 To sprout; to shoot, as a seed or plant. British, dialectal, intransitive
"I have known it chit in seven hours after it had been thrown forth of the Cistern and within three days come enough; the Maltster being forced to stir it six, seven or eight times a day,"
- 2 To damage the outer layers of a seed such as Lupinus or Sophora to assist germination. British, dialectal, transitive
- 3 To initiate sprouting of tubers, such as potatoes, by placing them in special environment, before planting into the soil. British, dialectal, transitive
"Gardeners argue among themselves about how necessary chitting is, but I stick with tradition and do chit my seed potatoes."
Intj
- 1 Shit. US, euphemistic, slang
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Bob drew the winning chit at the raffle."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "chit"?
Common synonyms include: accounts payable, accounts receivable, acknowledgment, amount due, answer, baby.
How do you use "chit" in a sentence?
Bob drew the winning chit at the raffle.
How do you pronounce "chit"?
Pronounced /t͡ʃɪt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
From Middle English *chit, *chitte, from Old English ċīþ (“germ, seed, sprout, shoot”), from Proto-Germanic *kīþą (“sprout”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵī-, *ǵey(H)- (“to divide, part, split open, sprout”). Cognate with Middle Dutch kiede (“sprout”), dialectal German Keid (“sprout”). Doublet of chive (etymology 2) and scion.
Etymology 3
From chitty, from Hindi चिट्ठी (ciṭṭhī, “letter, note, written message”). Doublet of cure.
Etymology 4
Perhaps from specialized technical use of Etymology 2, above, “a bud; an excrescence” (Hunter 1882).
Etymology 5
Euphemistic variation of shit.