Tit Definition & Meaning

American

British

Etymology

Examples

tit 1 American [tit] / tɪt /

noun

1. a titmouse.

2. any of various other small birds.

3. Archaic. a girl or young woman; hussy.

4. Archaic. a small or poor horse; nag.

tit 2 American [tit] / tɪt /

noun

1. a teat.

2. Slang: Vulgar. a breast.

tit 3 American [tit] / tɪt /

noun

1. tit for tat.

tit. 4 American

abbreviation

1. title.

Tit. 5 American

abbreviation

Bible.

1. Titus.

tit 1 British / tɪt /

noun

1. slang a female breast

2. a teat or nipple

3. derogatory a girl or young woman

4. slang a despicable or unpleasant person: often used as a term of address

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 tit 2 British / tɪt /

noun

1. any of numerous small active Old World songbirds of the family Paridae (titmice), esp those of the genus Parus (bluetit, great tit, etc). They have a short bill and feed on insects and seeds

2. any of various similar small birds

3. archaic a worthless or worn-out horse; nag

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Tit. 3 British

abbreviation

1. Titus

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of tit1

First recorded in 1540–50; short for titmouse ( def. ); akin to Old Norse titlingr “sparrow,” Norwegian tite “titmouse”; tit 2

Origin of tit2

First recorded before 1100; Middle English, Old English tit(t) “teat, pap, breast”; cognate with Middle Low German, Middle Dutch titte, German Zitze, Norwegian titta; akin to tit 1; teat ( def. )

Origin of tit3

Perhaps variant of tip 4

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Is he worried his prosecutions set off today’s “tit for tat”? Nah, said Mr. Smith.

From The Wall Street Journal

“The concern for the public and for representative democracy is that you’re going to have a lot of tit for tat moving forward,” Skelley told Salon.

From Salon

Instead of tit for tat, the prime minister is pivoting Canada with precision toward alternative trade blocs like Europe and the Pacific Rim.

From Salon

"We're happier sat in an oak tree ten foot from the ground, watching blue tits feeding on caterpillars – involved and immersed in that natural world."

From BBC

Among birds, the Japanese tit offers the first experimental evidence for compositional syntax in any non-human species.

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.