What does "quit" mean?
Any of numerous species of small passerine birds native to tropical America.
Quit
/kwɪt/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Any of numerous species of small passerine birds native to tropical America.
- Grammar: quit is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: cease, resign, stop, abandon.
- Useful contrasts: enduring, mayoral staff, ongoing push.
- Usage evidence: The odds are against me, so I think I'll quit now.
How to use "quit"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "quit" 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 "quit" 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 "quit" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "quit" 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 "quit" is acting as adj, noun, verb 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 "cease" 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 "quit", 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 Any of numerous species of small passerine birds native to tropical America.
Verb
- 1 To leave (a place). transitive
"The British quit India in the 1940s."
- 2 give up in the face of defeat of lacking hope; admit defeat wordnet
- 3 To set at rest; to free, as from anything harmful or oppressive; to relieve; to clear; to liberate. transitive
"To quit you […] of this fear, […]you have already lookt Death in the face; what have you found so terrible in it?"
- 4 go away or leave wordnet
- 5 To release from obligation, accusation, penalty, etc.; to absolve; to acquit. transitive
"God will relent, and quit thee all his debt;"
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 turn away from; give up wordnet
- 7 To abandon, renounce (a thing). transitive
- 8 give up or retire from a position wordnet
- 9 To resign from (a job, office, position, etc.). ambitransitive
"After having to work overtime without being paid, I quit my job."
- 10 put an end to a state or an activity wordnet
- 11 To stop, give up (an activity). ambitransitive
"John is planning to quit smoking."
- 12 To close (an application). transitive
- 13 To pay (a debt, fine etc.). archaic, transitive
"Edmund, enkindle all the sparkes of Nature To quit this horrid acte."
- 14 To conduct or acquit (oneself); to behave (in a specified way). archaic, reflexive
"Be strong and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight."
- 15 To carry through; to go through to the end. archaic, transitive
"Never worthy prince a day did quit With greater hazard and with more renown."
- 16 To repay, pay back (a good deed, injury etc.). obsolete, transitive
"Vnthankfull wretch (said he) is this the meed, With which her soueraigne mercy thou doest quight?"
- 17 To repay (someone) for (something). obsolete, transitive
"I was but late att a Iustynge and there I Iusted with a knyghte that is broder vnto kynge Pellam and twyes smote I hym doune & thenne he promysed to quyte me on my best frynde and so he wounded my sone that can not be hole tyll I haue of that knyghtes blood"
Adjective
- 1 Released from obligation, penalty, etc; free, clear, or rid. not-comparable, usually
"With mounting anger the King denounced the pair, both father and son, and was about to condemn them to death when his strength gave out. Faint and trembling he was unable to walk and the sword fell from his hands as he murmured: 'May the Protector of the Buddhist Faith grant me but seven more days grace of life to be quit of this disloyal couple, father and son'."
Example
"The odds are against me, so I think I'll quit now."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "quit"?
Common synonyms include: cease, resign, stop, abandon, abandoned, abandoning.
How do you use "quit" in a sentence?
The odds are against me, so I think I'll quit now.
How do you pronounce "quit"?
Pronounced /kwɪt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English quiten, quyten, from Anglo-Norman quitter, Old French quitter, from quitte (“acquitted, quit”), ultimately from Latin quietus, which itself derives from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyéh₁-ti-s, from *kʷyeh₁- (“to rest”). Doublet of coy, quite, quiet, and quietus. Compare Dutch kwijten (“to quit”), German Low German quitten (“to quit”), German quitten, quittieren, Danish kvitte, Swedish qvitta, kvitta (“to quit, leave, set off”), Icelandic kvitta.
Etymology 2
Probably of imitative origin.