hit

verb

\ ˈhit

hit; hitting

Definition of hit

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1a : to reach with or as if with a sudden blow His mom told him to stop hitting his sister.

b : to come in quick forceful contact with the ball hit the window He was hit by a car. The tank was hit by enemy fire.

c : to strike (something, such as a ball) with an object (such as a bat, club, or racket) so as to impart or redirect motion hit a fastball into the outfield

2a : to cause to come into contact She accidentally hit her head getting into the car.

b : to deliver (something, such as a blow) by action

c : to apply forcefully or suddenly hit the brakes Will someone hit the lights?

3 : to affect especially detrimentally farmers hit by drought Many families were hit hard during the recession.

4 : to make a request of hit his friend for 10 dollars —often used with up hit us up for some change

5 : to discover or meet especially by chance prospectors hitting gold hit a snowstorm while driving home hit a run of bad luck

6a : to accord with : suit hits public tastes

b : reach, attain prices hit a new high kept digging until he hit water She'll hit 50 on her next birthday.

c : to arrive or appear at, in, or on hit town the best time to hit the stores The newest issue hits newsstands tomorrow.

d of fish : to bite at or on will only hit live bait

e : to reflect accurately hit the right note

f : to reach or strike (something, such as a target) especially for a score in a game or contest couldn't seem to hit the basket

g baseball : bat sense 2b a player who can hit .300

7 : to indulge in excessively He repeatedly hit the bottle [=drank alcoholic beverages excessively] and, following a wild binge, was exiled to a remote post in the mountains …— Stanley Karnow

8 : to deal another card to (as in blackjack) hit me

intransitive verb

1a : to strike a blow boxers hitting furiously at each other

b : to arrive with a forceful effect like that of a blow the storm hit

2a : to come into contact with something the plate shattered when it hit

b : attack where the terrorists would hit next

c of a fish : strike sense 11b

d baseball : bat sense 1 next up to hit

3 : to succeed in attaining or coming up with something —often used with on or upon hit on a solution

4 obsolete : to be in agreement : suit

5 of an internal combustion engine : to fire a quantity of mixed fuel and air in the cylinders (see cylinder sense 2b) the engine wouldn't hit

hit it big

: to achieve great success

hit it off

: to get along well : become friends they hit it off immediately

hit on

: to make especially sexual overtures to

hit the books

: to study especially with intensity

hit the fan

: to have a major usually undesirable impact

hit the ground running

: to begin or proceed quickly, energetically, or effectively

hit the hay or hit the sack

: to go to bed

hit the high points or hit the high spots

: to touch on or at the most important points or places

hit the jackpot

: to become notably and unexpectedly successful

hit the nail on the head

: to be exactly right

hit the road

: leave, travel also : to set out

hit the roof or hit the ceiling

: to give vent to a burst of anger or angry protest

hit the spot

: to give complete or special satisfaction —used especially of food or drink

hit the wall

1 : to reach the point of physical exhaustion during strenuous activity

2 : to reach a limiting point or situation at which progress or success ceases

hit

noun

Definition of hit (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : an act or instance of striking or forcefully coming in contact with someone or something : an act or instance of hitting or being hit penalized for an illegal hit from behind The bunker took a direct hit from the bombers.

2a : a stroke of luck

b : a great success The show was a big hit. a compilation of the band's greatest hits The pony rides were a hit with the kids.

3 : a telling or critical remark

4 baseball : base hit

5 : a quantity of a drug ingested at one time took a hit of LSD

6 : a premeditated murder committed especially by a member of a crime syndicate (see syndicate entry 1 sense 3c) a hit on a rival gang leader

7 : an instance of connecting to a particular website a million hits per day

8 : a successful match in a search (as of a computer database or the Internet)

Other Words from hit Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about hit

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Examples of hit in a Sentence

Verb

She told her son to stop hitting his sister. She hit him hard with her purse. The boxers hit each other with their fists. The boxers were hitting furiously at each other. She hit the ball right to the shortstop. The ball hit the house. The plate shattered when it hit the floor. The tank was hit by enemy fire. He was hit by a car. The ship hit an iceberg.

Noun

The player was penalized for an illegal hit from behind. The torpedo made a direct hit. The pony ride was a big hit at the party.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

When hit by the light, any present chemicals emit unique optical signatures, allowing for near-instantaneous identification. — Dan Dubno, Popular Mechanics, "How We'll Stop Chemical Attacks," 28 Apr. 2019 Then, last year, with construction finally underway, Montecito was hit by wildfires and devastating mudslides. — Candace Jackson, Town & Country, "The Rosewood Miramar Beach Is Montecito's Newest Luxury Hotel—and Private Club For Those Who Want the Real Perks," 27 Apr. 2019 Even California will be hit by heavy rain and snow, AccuWeather claimed. — Jennifer Aldrich, Country Living, "Brace Yourselves: The Entire Country Will be Hit by a Brutal Winter Storm This Week," 12 Feb. 2019 Sometimes the empathy training hits closer to home. — Marisa Meltzer, Condé Nast Traveler, "The Latest Travel Trend? Super Sabbaticals," 24 Dec. 2018 Remember when she got hit in the face with an umbrella on a New Year's Eve telecast? — Abby Gardner, Glamour, "NBA Star Dwyane Wade Fell on Chrissy Teigen During a Game, and It's Becoming a Meme," 10 Apr. 2019 Regardless, Hyland is slaying the shag game and hitting us with some serious spring hair inspiration. — Kaleigh Fasanella, Allure, "Sarah Hyland Just Debuted a New Shag Haircut, and She’s Almost Unrecognizable," 20 Mar. 2019 Fingers-crossed that means his holiday hit with girlfriend Gwen Stefani! — Megan Stein, Country Living, "Everything We Know About Hallmark Christmas Movies for 2019," 17 Mar. 2019 Lenovo said the Intel laptops will hit 10 hours of run time with discrete graphics or 8 hours with integrated graphics. — Gordon Mah Ung, PCWorld, "Lenovo's latest IdeaPads offer Intel, AMD, and an Nvidia mystery," 24 Feb. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The two met in 2016 when Joe played a stripped on Gina's hit show. — Neha Prakash, Glamour, "Gina Rodriguez Wore Not One, But Two Gorgeous Wedding Dresses," 6 May 2019 That, and simply taking a break from the hectic hustle and bustle that comes with working on a hit TV show. — Kaleigh Fasanella, Allure, "Sarah Hyland Talks Hair Loss, Regrowth, and Her Newfound Curls," 24 Apr. 2019 The Umbrella Academy might be Netflix's latest hit TV show, but it's also based on a popular comic book series by My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way and illustrator Gabriel Bá. — Tamara Fuentes, Seventeen, "13 Differences Between "The Umbrella Academy" Comics and TV Show," 8 Mar. 2019 The final season of the hit HBO series is less than a month away, so the joint cover comes at a perfect time. — Kaleigh Fasanella, Allure, "Game of Thrones Stars Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner Look So Different on the Cover of Rolling Stone," 27 Mar. 2019 In the hit series, Alison and lead contractor Donovan Eckhardt buy and renovate vintage fixer uppers in historic Chicago neighborhoods to sell for a profit. — Taylor Mead, House Beautiful, "Why Windy City Rehab's Alison Victoria Is the Woman to Watch on HGTV," 4 Mar. 2019 Per Decider, Netflix streamed the hit series until last fall, when its contract expired. — Amanda Mitchell, Marie Claire, "How to Stream '90210' Right Now for a Dose of Nostalgia," 4 Mar. 2019 That's not a perfect analogy for Heroes of the Storm (which is still receiving updates), but probably echoes the long, slow decline the game can expect as Blizzard shifts its focus to its biggest hits. — Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, "Blizzard shifts developers away from Heroes of the Storm," 14 Dec. 2018 Liza Minnelli, star of Cabaret and the bigger celebrity, temporarily replaced Verdon, turning Chicago into a hit. — Emma Dibdin, Harper's BAZAAR, "A Complete Timeline of the Real Relationship Between Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon," 9 Apr. 2019

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