Library / English Dictionary

SIT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: sat    , sitting   

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Serve in a specific professional capacity

Example:

she sat on the jury

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "sit" is one way to...):

serve (do duty or hold offices; serve in a specific function)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be seated

Synonyms:

sit; sit down

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

"Sit" entails doing...:

sit; sit down (take a seat)

Verb group:

seat; sit; sit down (show to a seat; assign a seat for)

sit; sit down (take a seat)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sit"):

lounge (sit or recline comfortably)

sprawl (sit or lie with one's limbs spread out)

perch; rest; roost (sit, as on a branch)

crouch; hunker; hunker down; scrunch; scrunch up; squat (sit on one's heels)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence examples:

The children sit in the rocking chair

There sit some children in the rocking chair

Antonym:

lie (be lying, be prostrate; be in a horizontal position)

stand (be standing; be upright)

Also:

sit down (take a seat)

sit out (endure to the end)

Derivation:

sitting (the act of assuming or maintaining a seated position)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Show to a seat; assign a seat for

Example:

The host seated me next to Mrs. Smith

Synonyms:

seat; sit; sit down

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "sit" is one way to...):

lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)

Cause:

sit; sit down (be seated)

Verb group:

sit; sit down (be seated)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sit"):

reseat (show to a different seat)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Sense 4

Meaning:

Sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions

Example:

The girl liked to drive the young mare

Synonyms:

ride; sit

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "sit" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Verb group:

ride (sit on and control a vehicle)

Domain category:

horseback riding; riding (travel by being carried on horseback)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sit"):

override (ride (a horse) too hard)

ride herd (driving animals such as horses and cattle while riding along with them)

outride (ride better, faster, or further than)

ride horseback (ride on horseback)

prance (cause (a horse) to bound spring forward)

canter (ride at a cantering pace)

extend; gallop (cause to move at full gallop)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Take a seat

Synonyms:

sit; sit down

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "sit" is one way to...):

change posture (undergo a change in bodily posture)

Verb group:

sit; sit down (be seated)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 6

Meaning:

Be in session

Example:

When does the court of law sit?

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "sit" is one way to...):

convene (meet formally)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

sitting (a session as of a legislature or court)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Assume a posture as for artistic purposes

Example:

We don't know the woman who posed for Leonardo so often

Synonyms:

model; pose; posture; sit

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "sit" is one way to...):

display; exhibit; expose (to show, make visible or apparent)

Domain category:

art; artistic creation; artistic production (the creation of beautiful or significant things)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sit"):

ramp (be rampant)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

sitter (a person who poses for a painter or sculptor)

sitting ((photography) the act of assuming a certain position (as for a photograph or portrait))

Sense 8

Meaning:

Work or act as a baby-sitter

Example:

I cannot baby-sit tonight; I have too much homework to do

Synonyms:

baby-sit; babysit; sit

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "sit" is one way to...):

guard (to keep watch over)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

sitter (a person engaged to care for children when the parents are not home)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Be located or situated somewhere

Example:

The White House sits on Pennsylvania Avenue

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "sit" is one way to...):

be (occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 10

Meaning:

Be around, often idly or without specific purpose

Example:

We sat around chatting for another hour

Synonyms:

sit; sit around

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "sit" is one way to...):

be (occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Credits

 Context examples: 

They served their meal on their grub-box, sitting on Messner's grub-box and facing him.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

These tables can be fully adjusted to suit the height of the user, depending on whether they want to sit or stand while working.

(Spending more time standing helps increase energy expenditure and combats the effects of a sedentary lifestyle, University of Granada)

So they sat down and listened while he told the following tale.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

In a few days Mr. Bingley returned Mr. Bennet's visit, and sat about ten minutes with him in his library.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

There he sits as easy and happy as if he was at home, in the chair by his fireside; he trips against no stones, saves shoe-leather, and gets on he hardly knows how.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

She only attempted to say, "How do you do? Will you not sit down? The others will be here presently."

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

A rod that sits within a coil, or a general term refering to the central, main part of a device.

(Core Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

Sitting still for a long time can make you more likely to get a DVT.

(Deep Vein Thrombosis, NIH)

An old man sat in it, near a fire, over which he was preparing his breakfast.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Peggotty and I were sitting one night by the parlour fire, alone.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)