v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Hit; p. pr. & vb. n. Hitting. ] [ OE. hitten, hutten, of Scand. origin; cf. Dan. hitte to hit, find, Sw. & Icel. hitta. ] 1. To reach with a stroke or blow; to strike or touch, usually with force; especially, to reach or touch (an object aimed at). [ 1913 Webster ]

I think you have hit the mark. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To reach or attain exactly; to meet according to the occasion; to perform successfully; to attain to; to accord with; to be conformable to; to suit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Birds learning tunes, and their endeavors to hit the notes right. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

There you hit him; . . . that argument never fails with him. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whose saintly visage is too bright
To hit the sense of human sight. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

He scarcely hit my humor. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To guess; to light upon or discover. “Thou hast hit it.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Backgammon) To take up, or replace by a piece belonging to the opposing player; -- said of a single unprotected piece on a point. [ 1913 Webster ]

To hit off, to describe with quick characteristic strokes; as, to hit off a speaker. Sir W. Temple. --
To hit out, to perform by good luck. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

pron. It. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To meet or come in contact; to strike; to clash; -- followed by against or on. [ 1913 Webster ]

If bodies be extension alone, how can they move and hit one against another? Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Corpuscles, meeting with or hitting on those bodies, become conjoined with them. Woodward. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To meet or reach what was aimed at or desired; to succeed, -- often with implied chance, or luck. [ 1913 Webster ]

And oft it hits
Where hope is coldest and despair most fits. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

And millions miss for one that hits. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

To hit on or
To hit upon, to light upon; to come to by chance; to discover unexpectedly; as, he hit on the solution after days of trying. “None of them hit upon the art.” Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A striking against; the collision of one body against another; the stroke that touches anything. [ 1913 Webster ]

So he the famed Cilician fencer praised,
And, at each hit, with wonder seems amazed. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A stroke of success in an enterprise, as by a fortunate chance; as, he made a hit; esp. A performance, as a musical recording, movie, or play, which achieved great popularity or acclaim; also used of books or objects of commerce which become big sellers; as, the new notebook computer was a big hit with business travellers. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

What late he called a blessing, now was wit,
And God's good providence, a lucky hit. Pope.

3. A peculiarly apt expression or turn of thought; a phrase which hits the mark; as, a happy hit. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A game won at backgammon after the adversary has removed some of his men. It counts less than a gammon. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Baseball) A striking of the ball; as, a safe hit; a foul hit; -- sometimes used specifically for a base hit. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. An act of murder performed for hire, esp. by a professional assassin. [ PJC ]

Base hit,
Safe hit,
Sacrifice hit. (Baseball) See under Base, Safe, etc.

3d pers. sing. pres. of Hide, contracted from hideth. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. Having become very popular or acclaimed; -- said of entertainment performances; as, a hit song, a hit movie. [ PJC ]

n. 1. A catch; anything that holds, as a hook; an impediment; an obstacle; an entanglement. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of catching, as on a hook, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A stop or sudden halt; a stoppage; an impediment; a temporary obstruction; an obstacle; as, a hitch in one's progress or utterance; a hitch in the performance. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A sudden movement or pull; a pull up; as, the sailor gave his trousers a hitch. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Naut.) A knot or noose in a rope which can be readily undone; -- intended for a temporary fastening; as, a half hitch; a clove hitch; a timber hitch, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Geol.) A small dislocation of a bed or vein. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Cf. Scot. hitch a motion by a jerk, and hatch, hotch, to move by jerks, also Prov. G. hiksen, G. hinken, to limp, hobble; or E. hiccough; or possibly akin to E. hook. ] 1. To become entangled or caught; to be linked or yoked; to unite; to cling. [ 1913 Webster ]

Atoms . . . which at length hitched together. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To move interruptedly or with halts, jerks, or steps; -- said of something obstructed or impeded. [ 1913 Webster ]

Slides into verse, and hitches in a rhyme. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

To ease themselves . . . by hitching into another place. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To hit the legs together in going, as horses; to interfere. [ Eng. ] Halliwell.

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Hitched p. pr. & vb. n. Hitching. ] 1. To hook; to catch or fasten as by a hook or a knot; to make fast, unite, or yoke; as, to hitch a horse, or a halter; hitch your wagon to a star. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

2. To move with hitches; as, he hitched his chair nearer. [ 1913 Webster ]

To hitch up. (a) To fasten up. (b) To pull or raise with a jerk; as, a sailor hitches up his trousers. (c) To attach, as a horse, to a vehicle; as, hitch up the gray mare. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To hitchhike; -- mostly used in the phrase to hitch a ride; as, he hitched his way home; he hitched a ride home. [ PJC ]