fist

noun \ ˈfist \

Definition of fist

1 :the hand clenched with the fingers doubled into the palm and the thumb doubled inward across the fingers

2 :the hand closed as in grasping :clutch

3 :index 5

See fist defined for English-language learners

See fist defined for kids

Examples of fist in a Sentence

He pounded his fist on the table in anger.
She pounded on the door with both fists.
He defiantly shook his fist at the policeman.

Recent Examples of fist from the Web

Tiafoe pumped his fist, yelled and sprinted off the court behind the umpire’s chair and into his seat.

— david waldstein, New York Times, "Roger Federer Survives a Scare, and Rafael Nadal Overcomes a Din," 29 Aug. 2017
Everyone expected a fist fight — or at least a shouting match.

— Bloomberg.com, "Netanyahu Steps in to Stop Brawl of Israeli, Jordanian MP," 2 Aug. 2017
Russia’s leaders can try to convince their people, and themselves, that their ability to bully neighbors, repress dissenters, and shake their fists at the United States, is a sign of strength.

— daniel fried, The Atlantic, "Russia's Back-to-the-80s Foreign Policy," 2 Aug. 2017
Luckily for clients, Loeb writes, Third Point still made money hand over fist last quarter, thanks to investments in Alibaba and BlackRock, and no thanks to president whats-his-name.

— bess levin, vanityfair.com, "Trump Claims He Has a Secret Plan to Tax the Rich—But Democrats Won’t Let Him," 26 July 2017
My son has a hole in his neck as big as a fist, skin missing off his back.

— malaika jabali, Essence.com, "A Mysterious Prison Death: What Happened To Michael Jefferson?," 20 July 2017
Cables and screwdrivers cover every corner of a partitioned room where different kids build new robots each week, making cardboard mazes to test their robot trucks or duck their heads as fist-sized drones whiz by.

— briza perez, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Robolink engages kids with robotics, drone programming," 19 July 2017
Khashakyan caught a flying knee and oh-so-briefly took the fight to the ground. O’Malley landed a spinning back fist and then began landing several good right hands.

— grant gordon, Glendale News-Press, "Khashakyan KO'd by O'Malley in Tuesday Night Contender Series," 18 July 2017
Apply a tourniquet about four to five finger widths above the jab site and ask the person to make a fist, which makes veins more prominent.

— malia wollan, New York Times, "How to Draw Blood," 14 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fist.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of fist

Middle English, from Old English fȳst; akin to Old High German fūst fist, Polish pięść, and probably to Old English fīf five

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

fist

verb

Definition of fist

transitive verb

1 :to grip with the fist :handle

2 :to clench into a fist

Recent Examples of fist from the Web

But Miyahara laced a two-run triple with two outs in the second to tie it at 2, and Ryusei Fujiwara fisted a single to right to bring Miyahara home.

— matt martell and jack dougherty, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Back on top: Japan beats Lufkin, Texas, 12-2 for LLWS title," 28 Aug. 2017
To this day, Barca and Real Madrid fans debate whether Di Stefano’s Barcelona deal fell through because of Franco’s iron-fisted regime.

— michelle kaufman, miamiherald, "Friction between these Spanish soccer titans transcends sport and enters political, cultural realm," 24 July 2017
The militant attacks, and the state's iron-fisted response, have in turn fed a deepening sense of political polarization in Turkey.

— the washington post, NOLA.com, "Watch Turkey's presidential guards clash with protesters outside Washington embassy," 17 May 2017
The potential conflict first came into focus shortly before Trump was elected, when the Philippines’ iron-fisted president, Rodrigo Duterte, named the Trump Organization’s partner on the Manila real estate venture his top trade envoy.

— james hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: How Nancy Pelosi kept Democrats united behind Obamacare," 3 May 2017
During Tuesday’s opener against the Jazz, Green barely reacted when Gobert two-fisted him out of bounds in the second half.

— ailene voisin, sacbee.com, "Warriors’ Draymond Green burning to win, but keeping his cool – so far," 3 May 2017
The potential conflict first came into focus shortly before Trump was elected, when the Philippines' iron-fisted president, Rodrigo Duterte, named the Trump Organization's partner on the Manila real estate venture his top trade envoy.

— drew harwell and matea gold, chicagotribune.com, "While in White House, Trumps remained selling points for Philippines project," 2 May 2017
Rather than being greeted as an honest attempt to reach out to a voting group that overwhelmingly dislikes him, the taco bowl post was widely mocked as an obvious, ham-fisted pander.

— farhad manjoo, New York Times, "Twitter, Trump’s Trusty Weapon, Could Backfire," 18 May 2016

First Known Use of fist

1607

FIST Defined for English Language Learners

fist

noun

Definition of fist for English Language Learners

: the hand with its fingers bent down into the palm

FIST Defined for Kids

fist

noun \ ˈfist \

Definition of fist for Students

:the hand with the fingers bent tight into the palm

Medical Dictionary

fist

noun \ ˈfist \

medical Definition of fist

:the hand clenched with the fingers doubled into the palm and the thumb doubled inward across the fingers

Learn More about fist

See words that rhyme with fist Spanish Central: Translation of fist Nglish: Translation of fist for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of fist for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up fist? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

fist

Definition of fist

Explore M-W

Examples of fist in a Sentence

Recent Examples of fist from the Web

Origin and Etymology of fist

fist

Definition of fist

Recent Examples of fist from the Web

First Known Use of fist

Phrases Related to FIST

Related Phrases

FIST Defined for English Language Learners

fist

Definition of fist for English Language Learners

FIST Defined for Kids

fist

Definition of fist for Students

Medical Dictionary

fist

medical Definition of fist

Learn More about fist

Seen and Heard

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games

The Exceptions Quiz III

The Origins of 'Lobbyist'

Trending: McCain: Half-Baked, 'Spurious' Nationalism

17 English Words that Come From Japanese

Words of the Year: 1066